The Fine Line
by blackdragonhuntress
Summary: After Armin escapes from the Titans' last siege with Annie's slowly crackling crystal, he is met with the oncoming dilemma regarding both her awakening and his dead-end situation. A prisoner of their wager, he needs to find a way to survive long enough if he ever hopes to one day see his friends again. A divergent what-if scenario based off the canon series. aruannie
1. The Fall of Mankind

_Here's a little something I want to contribute to the awesome Attack on Titan fandom. A 'what if' scenario as some would call it, or maybe a theory of what will happen. I wanted to write about what if Annie not only escapes her crystal but ends up in a situation where she has a choice to decide whether or not she wishes to follow up in her bet against Armin and what she thinks if she should be placed in an enviroment where she can freely decide her fate. I pray that they will not be too ooc for you lovelies out there who love watching the world burn. This more drabble than anything._

_On a personal note, I think they are a cute ship; I've seen fanfics where Annie escapes her crystal (Common fics) and what she does afterwards but there is too many flowery out-of-character fics out there that bother me too much. Not to mention, many seem to overlook the giant of the trainees (as funny as that sounds) that holds feelings for Annie; whether it is a simple crush or something a little more intimate. Bertholdt should not be so easily ignored when it comes to this ship people! He is pretty homicidal when it comes to Annie's well-being and that has been proven canon; chapter 49 I think is the chapter to look. _

_Anyway, if you squint hard enough you might see that it is implied at the get-go but take it as you will. I wanted something different than what I normally read and this is the end result of some runaway thoughts I get whenever I have an inversed sleeping schedule and a bath to contemplate in._

_**Note: **__The italics is Annie and Armin's thoughts primarily. I also threw in some ideas that seem to flow with what the story has going for it. I'm not sure if these ideas are canon or not, but I needed something to go by. There will be multiple chapters too so don't worry about not getting an update. There will be updates, I promise!_

_Enjoy. :)_

* * *

The saturated smells of resin-coated needles and plowed grass wafted in and out of his nose, darkness blanketing his vision and pain coursing through his body like a river of electrified spikes. Everything in his damned weak and prone form throbbed with a fury that Armin Arlert did not not think was possible. He groaned where he lay, fisting a clump of shredded grass and gritting his teeth to the nearest point of breaking them. That familiar metallic taste of copper coated his throat thickly, his fingertips numbing slightly save for his index finger on the left; most likely broken since the searing pain rolling from it was comparable to burning it in a hearth deliberately. He had no idea how long he was like that; face-down in the earth of the other, unsafe side of the wall but it was long enough so that he may regain some sense of which way was up and what wasn't right about the world around him.

Pretty much everything as far as he was concerned.

He rolled over onto his side, fire lancing up his side the instant he decided he should move. A rattled cough escaped him, dirt and filth flying away from around and in his mouth. Eyes still pinched tightly shut, he tried once again to budge, but decided against it and remained where he lay, wondering how and why he was out here in the first damn place. His mind was a hazy rememberance of contorted thoughts and split-second images but the sounds and sights began to dawn on him.

_The Ape Titan..._

Armin settled his pulsing head onto his arm, sifting through his memories despite the oncoming concussion. He still dared not to open his eyes since he did not yet posess the strength in keeping them open. His stomach lurched uncomfortably, a souring taste burning the back of his throat and effectively replacing the metal of his blood. He curled his legs somewhat and drew into himself next. The only thing that could match his physical pain at this point was the sense of dysphoric hopelessness that nearly crushed him and his will next.

_He's responsible for this._

The Ape Titan had appeared less than hours before within the walls; acting out in a brazen way no one could have dared expected. Even Erwin Smith himself had not quite been able to anticipate this. That Titan had been a familiar of Reiner and Bertholdt's, and apparently Annie's too since it had gone through the motions of liberating her from the Scouts' hands. It had arrived to find what he claimed "did not belong to humans in the first place" and proceeded to bring with him more than enough Titans to throw everyone into a chaotic state. It was surmised that they had likely originated from within the walls considering the old evidence of what happened to Connie's village coupled with the wall itself having no visible breach that can be found. He ransacked the populace, his might and intelligence alarming all who had engaged him. Many were slain in moments and buildings were leveled right after, the combined forces of all available branches of the Military had seemed to ultimately fail. The district of Stohess had become the exact image of the fall of Shiganshina and the vicious attack on Trost.

It was not just an ambush; it was a hellish siege. A proclamation of an inevitable and one-sided end to this whole conflict.

Armin and the others had left the cabin so they may find Eren, who had been kidnapped not so long ago but ended up in a conflict that they could not back from. Levi had been largely unavailable since he had had a battle of his own, and so left the Special Ops Squad and the remainder of the Survey Corps' forces the only true Titan slaying professionals to fend for themselves. Erwin had been away on an important excursion somewhere else within Sina's confines but the timing itself for the enemy had been too perfect. With no Eren, Smith, or Levi among other elites the fight had quickly taken a turn for the worse. So many uncounted casualties are mostly likely buried beneath the debris and lie within the bellies of the relentless giants as a testament of their failed endeavor to protect the city and the fabricated peace that had kept mankind sane.

To the injured Armin, the entire disaster had stood out in pristine clarity in his slow-moving thoughts: The Titans, the screams, the tightness and pull of the muscles and the high of the adrenaline had him bordering the finest of lines between his brittle sanity and total, unbridled madness. His tongue felt dry and heavy, his body convulsed and he spat out both blood and bile. Armin cracked a single eye only to realize he cannot lift the lid on the other; his right eye remained sealed shut as blood had coated it in its entirety. For all he knew, the damage he sustained from the previous skirmish may have inevitably blinded him on that side permanently.

_The Titans must have Stohess under their control right now. That Ape did not manage to take Annie's crystal successfully, but what was it all worth?_

He normally kept his mouth shut and acted out the good boy role since his friends were usually rambunctious enough without his imput, but he wasn't above cursing. With a mumbled, near incoherent "Shit" comment he tried to push himself into a more upright position. His elbow gave and he slipped right back onto his wounded side, a gutteral moan lifting the silence of the muted atmosphere. He knew he was finished here, whether he bled to death or the Titans found him there when the sun rises the following morning. His maneuvering gear was in pieces nearby and out of gas largely.

Fighting tears, he pressed his hand to the fresh injury to his waist, his thin and shaken fingers doing nothing to staunch the wound. It was a reminder of his ability to outsmart the best of his enemies as Jean had once said; Armin having mislead the beast into releasing Annie's shard when he had snagged the oppurtunity, but he was received the injury in the process. The Ape had been no fool. He had ultimately tested Armin and his companions in not just a battle of endurance and determination but of wits as well.

Hanji had been notified of the break-in at Headquarters but the perpetrators were not anything what the gaurds had expected. The Titans had attacked Stohess and at around the same time some 3-meter brutes had managed to get into both Headquarters and the containment area where Annie had been stored. They were presumably under orders issued by the Ape as far as anyone can guess as they had behaved strangely whilst killing the majority of the gaurds and scaring off the others. They came in numbers rivaling a half dozen. They proceeded to extract Annie's crystal and were strong enough to hull it out where that heaping load of gigantine fur can get a hold of it and run off. Apparently, it had all been premeditated from the start, further demonstarting the Ape's tenacity.

The Survey Corps chased him down and barely managed to catch up to said interloper before he could escape with his prize. Mikasa, Jean, Sasha, and others had each in turn been injured and many others died but it was really Mikasa who had bravely enacted Armin's ploy in order for the Titan to release his hold on the crystal. A bold team of fellow soldiers underneath Hanji's leadership had tried to net it with some available cables, Armin distracting the Titan but the 17-meter threat wouldn't have it: he destroyed what Armin, Hanji, and the others had hastily laid out and ended up incidentally tossing the flaxon-haired strategist and his catch outside the wall. The soldiers were presumed to have either been injured, fled, or worse, Hanji being their only means of order and command if anything else had gone awry. The cover of the night had been enough to save Armin and the damaged crystal from the Ape's rage-fueled search other than the intervention of some other scouts.

However, what had added on to Armin's growing list of problems was that Wall Rose had Titans roaming its land below, signaling one of two possible scenarios: One was that a district (likely Trost somehow) has been breached entirely. Two was that the Ape may have transformed the denizenry into Titans; likely the ladder as far as Armin can guess since it would not be the first time it had happened. Either way, it did not matter considering that he and Annie were both virtually dead meat out here given Annie does not arouse. Annie herself had a failing means of protection that had began to cave almost the instant the Ape Titan had gotten hold of it. Her self-imposed cryogenic means of preservation had begun to fail during the siege.

_I'm having really shitty luck aren't I?_

Armin tried to regulate his erratic breathing but was met with no success, as his luck would have it. The only good out of this whole debacle was Annie's crackling shard and yet even that beheld no good fortune. The Ape might have been either careless in how he handled it or had the strength necessary to finally break through its seemingly impenetrable defense or maybe even both, Armin couldn't guess. Whatever the case, it was not like he could do anything to stop what Annie herself can do if and when she decides to awaken.

Armin continued to curl into himself, recoiling from these morbid thoughts that continued to haunt his current predicament. His mind desceneded into a slur of invasive ideas of what his bleak future within hours will look, his infirmaties only worsening as the minutes crawled by. He whimpered slightly, his bones creaking like ancient wood as he tried to once again rise and fall yet again. Detered and losing faith in the situation, he felt himself shake with trepidation as to what will become of humanity in a matter of days. He couldn't rescue Eren, aid his comrades in the appropriate manner, or even pick up a sword and keep it steady in combat. The question of what can he do now was met with no rational answer since his plan of getting Annie back from big-and-ugly has gloriously backfired and he's withering on top of that. He was losing blood freely and can do nothing about it unless he had someone to aid him and even that seemed unlikely. He had no working maneuvering gear or grappling equipement to escape with in the event a Titan would find him; he couldn't even use it whether or not the gear was in working order weighing in the damage to his body into the equation.

For once in his miserable, short, and fruitless life he was out of options and he cannot even fathom as to how he can get out of this situation. What had his superiors expected out of a inexperienced adolescent soldier who had wizened beyond his years? A path to glory?

_And so the gods finally have their laugh. Are you really satisfied with all of us facing the same bitter, hellish conclusion in all this?_

Just then, a horrid, god-awful grating noise of shattering glass shook the air, ultimately heralding the crsytal's demise. Armin peered up through his blood-stained fringe if only enough to take in what was before him. He observed as the crystal itself had miraculously traversed its glassy properties and transmuted instead from a crumbling pile of shards and into a gelatinous material that stuck insistantly to Annie's inanimate form. Some of the gel liquified and dissolved while some bits and pieces clung to her. Small, vein-like tendrils stayed around her face and limbs while the majority slowly melted to exposed her. It had come of no surprise to him to see of what would happen following the attack and release of Annie's crstal shell, but its untimely collaspe still had certainly left him somewhat unnerved. He can only wonder as to what Annie would do upon attaining her freedom.

_Kill me perhaps, given she feels merciful enough to not leave me here to be eaten._

Annie herself was now free; her nostrils flared and her slight chest heaving as she greedily sucked down brisk, humid air. Her relaxed features that she had long wore in her sleep suddenly and briefly tightened into a pained grimace the next second after, her eyes flying open next. They were saucer-like and glassy with unshed tears and glistening visibly despite the nighttime dark. She gasped and sat up next, the motion so sudden it startled Armin. She sat in the gangrenous mess of her leftover Titan flesh for some few uncounted span of minutes trying to catch her breath, her eyes round and alert and her hand resting over her breast as to steady her thumping heart. Its only once did she look down and glimpsed Armin sitting in a slowy enlarging pool of dark carmine did she freeze up and let her mouth slammed tightly shut.

They both did not know what to make of the situation, Armin silently dreading how she will react to him. Annie herself was merely trying to find her bearings and she had expected the familiar heat of battle and the din that follows, but she was instead met with a painfully settled lull and a rogue, dying servant of mankind layered in blood. To make matters worse, she identified him as the near sole-reason as to why she had encased herself in the first place.

To say she was a little surprised was a bit of an understatement.

Annie made no inclination to move or talk. She seemed to be weighing what and why her assumed enemy was vunlerable like this, her eyes loosing their sheen and in the paltry moon light and regaining some of their older ire. Armin decided that if he wanted any positive response from her (for her standards anyway), he would have to be tactful with his words. He also acknowleged that she would be more likely distrustworthful and maybe even violent towards him but he did not blame her in the least considering the events of their last meeting. Their 'relationship' had been delicate since the get-go; Annie and he had barely known one other although they had seen each other on an regular interval throughout the years. They had at some point reluctantly known each other as strangers at worst, aquaintances and allies at best. Now as things stand, the 'best' way she can possibly view him was as a begrudging enemy and an easy kill. Saying anything to Annie now can determine what would become of the boy within minutes, probably seconds.

Armin worked his mandible while trying to regain the lost moisture in his parched throat, his eye taking in Annie's unmoving form with steady care. He had mumled in a breathy and shaking voice, "...Good to see you" and was suddenly ashamed of the greeting. Armin fought against the temptation to gag, his throat acting as if talking was an unfamiliar notion. He mentally slapped himself for the poor selection of a greeting as well, finding that his voice was alien to even himself. So much so that he did not think it belonged to him had he not been the only person in the nightly gloom to have spoken.

Annie shifted next, the reeking mess around her hissing all the while. Her silence was what Armin had rightly expected but did not want surprisingly enough. Remembering his injuries and feeling weariness and fatique creeping up on him, he knew better than to fall asleep now despite said exhaustion. It would mean his end had he complied with the heavily weighted burden of keeping his remaining eye open.

_I don't want to die..._

It was a silly and sudden plea, arising from some dark and forgotten corner of Armin's inner mind. He had been never afraid to die for the glory of his race, but the instinct of survival had never been quite so apparent and raw up until now.

After a pregnant pause crept by that left Armin to believe she would never move, Annie seemed to have come down to some sort of conclusion that he believed to be the only reason why she hasn't reached over to wring his skrawny neck already: It was likely because she had observed his plight and noted how weak he must be, not to mention that they were utterly alone. Her expression became lost to the dim nature of their atmosphere but Armin can only guess that she was trying to get back some of her old cynistic personna so she can have the energy to deal with him.

Annie had gaurded herself then with the very nearly same mask of her older self, her mouth a slash and her aura far from benign. She had then wrested herself from the worse of her mess but never neared the young man she was so focused on glaring at. She pointedly jabbed at him, "You. Where am I now?"

He smiled wanly, a little relieved that she hasn't decided to follow-up on their past 'wager' as of yet. A shudder snaked its way up his spine and a deep cold gripped his fingertips and chilled his nerves, his sweat making him feel both clammy and slimy. Its vice was an eerie resemblance of a Titan's hand fisting around him, minus the cascading heat that normally follows. He knew death wasn't that far away.

"Out in Rose's open fields," he had no idea where he got the strength to speak but he knew it wouldn't last. "We're here because we had been attacked by something rather unpleasant."

Armin had said that so calmly that he creeped himself out.

Annie's next expression was not so easily seen but her shuffling shoulders gave Armin an idea of what she was contemplating. "Rose? So we are no longer in Stohess?"

"Nope," came the short reply. He dreaded what she would do next.

Instead, she chose to continue talking, her profile indicating that she was wrinkling her nose. "You're dying, aren't you?"

"Seems like," Armin felt his lip twitch in mock amusement. "I stopped feeling much as it is. Why ask?"

"...The smell."

"Ah."

Armin slumped forward onto his arms, laying on his belly and finding a poorly placed humor in her surprisingly calm reception of him thus so far. His waist throbbed yet again as a protest but it largely did not seem to as hurt as much anymore. He wasn't sure if he should be happy that the pain was slowly ebbing away or not, since it would also mean he would soon be beyond help should Annie even consider rendering him her aid. He did not catch Annie's sideways stare or her grim, calculating expression; his vision had been shitty ever since he fell down here.

_I guess I don't have to worry about being eaten after all; I won't live to see the sunrise at this rate._

The next reaction that had come from Armin's mouth he knew he could safely chalk up to his failing health, "Does a living human body smell that badly or can you just sense it? Or maybe it's only after they die can you really smell it?"

Annie's reaction had Armin believing that she took his dying commentary as an insult. She sniffed, "Why would that matter to you? Worried that you'd smell that terribly offensive to my 'Titan-sized' nose?" Her voice held that biting edge that always threw Armin off his guard, although the comment itself was something that had been a reference to their past during training. Some people like Connie had dared to say this much without trying to let Annie hear it, but she did anyway whether it was gossip or he was too oblivious to her presence.

"No. I was just-" He stuttered.

"Forget it."

"Eh?"

She let out a long sigh, her hands creeping to her eyes and peeling away some of the dripping residue of her imprisonment. She tried to keep the wobble out of her voice as she began, "I failed in my mission as a warrior. You're nearly dead but it wasn't of my account; I did not have the resolve to finish you when I had the chance. I didn't back any of my wagers and I haven't succeeded in capturing Eren. If I went home now, I would look even more the fool. I might as well be dead too."

Armin closed his one eye, unable to keep it open anymore. He blamed his condition for his shortening temper as well, "What does it matter? Humanity's finished. We all are as it stands. Feeling sorry for yourself and getting pity from me just won't cut it this time, Annie."

This information and rather blunt retort startled Annie initially. She inclined her head and grumbled in a feinghly hurt voice, "That is cruel of you to say Armin. I'm hurt."

"If you were so hurt about it you'd flatten me and finish what that Ape started."

She shook off the stab at her nerves, obviously not taking him seriously despite how genuine the comment was. She mouthed "...Ape?" as if that was the only thing she heard and immediately went quiet. Annie seemed to consider something before inquiring further in a faraway voice lacking inflection, "You saw the Ape Titan? ...Then there are Titans in Sina then?"

"Yep," his voice had grown more whispery, but resentful.

"And you know about-?"

"Reiner and Bertholdt, yes."

"And Eren is-?"

"Captured and liable to be eaten for his power."

"And the others-?"

"Fighting the great stinkin' dirty Ape Titan himself and probably losing all the while we're trying to ursurp the false King. Yes I know what's going on for the most part."

Annie's silhouette seemed to have nodded in pensive reflection as to Armin's rather sickly concise answers. She was contemplative for a second before saying, "The Ape Titan... It can't be..." She trailed off mysteriously, as if in pure and genuine disbelief of the the Titan's very existence. Before long though, she had added in her typical monotone, "Do you have a light at all?"

He shook his head and realized that that was a mistake; a new headache arrived and a wave of nasea that followed clenched at his midsection. He let out a hollow gasp and sputtered; Annie stiffening when she heard him spit into the sick-covered grass and even in the near-total blackness of night can make out that shudder that wracked his fallen form. Suddenly she was ridding herself of the simmering remnants of her prison and crawling around the area for any sign of Armin's belongings. The only sound in the thick curtain of growing dark had been the only way Armin can divine where she was and what she was doing. Minutes eased by as Armin found it harder and harder to breathe, his hands trembling into weakened fists and relaxing back into flat palms.

_I'm finished. Let's face it; there will be no sight-seeing beyond the walls for me. Do I... I mean do we really all have to die in order to be set free?_

Something clicked nearby and several times after, not that Armin can see it; his face was buried into the ground too much to notice. Some other noises, oddly detached and distorted continued to originate from where Annie had been last heard. Armin grimly started to count how many breaths he was allowed to take before he could withdraw his last but failed to keep count, his mind fluttering about and his senses dulling. The only thing that retained his grip on what little focus on living he had left was the next statement that seemed to float up out of nowhere.

"You are a vexing person."

Armin cracked his eye again, but saw nothing but blood-painted dirt and grass, "And you are a remarkably complicated pain in both Humanity's arse as well as my own."

That was the last thing Annie had expected Armin to say.

He knew that if he had any lingering doubts that he was dying before they were assuredly gone now. He thought he mistaken the sound that had come out of Annie seemed to have resembled a stifled snort.

A little more stirred awake by the odd noise he tried to lift his heavy skull off the ground but the attempt had only invited another migraine, all the fight he had had left in his body gone. He sealed his eye shut and groaned as he barely registered the sigh of crinkling of grass, indicating Annie's approach. He prayed that if she was going to finish what she started it would be doing him a favor, but he hoped it would be quick... mercifully so. Armin had always been a lightweight and his pain tolerance wasn't anything like Eren's let alone his peers. Had he not suffered enough?

"Are those going to be your last words to me?"

Armin nodded against the ground and waited for Death's hand to deal its last angry blow, completely braced for Annie's petite hands to reach down and snap his neck in a deft fashion. He somewhat welcomed the idea since it would be she that would be carrying out the deed; but it was ludicrous to think he'd be so complacent with the idea just because it was going to be her doing it. He felt silly for the thought initially but then again, maybe he did find her even a little attractive; dying by her practiced hand would not be so terrible. There are worse ways to die after all.

_Wait... Since when did I really think Annie to be so attractive before? I mean I know she's pretty but what the hell am I thinking...?_

Her hands had descended upon him, still faintly moist due to the nature of her liberation. As they traced along his jugular just below his jawline, the fingers probing as if they were searching for a pulse. Armin felt his faint heart skip a beat at how incredibly light the touch was; gentleness was alien to Annie and her battle-honed nature and it was especially surprising to Armin since he was so used to being so roughly handled by his foes in the past hours. It was a stark surprise but the gesture was nothing at all compared to what she did next.

Armin nearly jumped as pain manifested itself back to where the source of his throes were: her left hand had found his largest injury. He was almost convinced that she would stick a knife in it and rip out what's left to assure a slower death but she kept the surprises coming. She instead worked to gingerly lift away some of the fabric nearly glued to his waist, the blood having crusted faintly around the edges and sticking his uniform to his sweaty, crimson-dyed form. Her right hand went to work peeling at the layers of clothing still hugging Armin's rather idle and sickly cold body; between his raincoat, traditional soldier uniform and his undershirt there was some patience needed for the job and the wound started to bleed anew. She did not take the clothing off entirely but she had to move fast and cut and work at it with a knife she had located in his survival pack nearby. Then she had carefully patched his wound with some sterile gauze since his bleeding was more the issue at the moment; the injury being just too large to be treated appropriately right now.

_Why is she...?_

She held the patch there, applying some pressure to staunch it as she briefly weighed how to get a wrap around his torso but she didn't follow up since she did not want Armin to move too much. She merely continued her work while Armin just wished she could just kill him and get it over with, but of course Annie was not such a simple mind to anticipate. Maybe she was helping him survive because she did not want to grant Armin the simple passage out of his punishment, willing for him to suffer for his betrayal and scheming. Truly, she was not a sadist but that can't be how she really ticked, was it?

Was it?

Paranoid thinking aside, Armin was in so much tear-jerking pain that he realized grimly he cannot stay conscious anymore. He shook violently and garbled both breath and nonsense while vainly trying to push her hand away, but she remained firm in her pesistant administration and treatment of his infirmities. Her grip on him was never dissauded nor removed. Armin wondered in an wordless way why she would see fit to his obvious suffering in such a prolonged effort, but the answer was as glaring as daylight to him within his hazy mind. He knew he had betrayed her and plotted for her capture, but she had been an enemy who had threatened mankind's greatest hope and sought to remove it from their midst. She almost killed him personally and tried to do the same for his comrades. Why should he be so cruelly punished for his dedication in their revival? Were humans truly that unsavable?

_Are we really not meant for this world?_

* * *

Annie was every bit as baffled of her own actions as Armin was.

She did her darnest to stop the bleeding but it was as profuse as Bertholdt's sweating; not that there was anything funny about it really. He sweated a lot.

She had never thought she would be working so hard for someone else's benefit over her own for once, maybe twice if you count her desire to see her father again as one perhaps. She was a selfish person in her own opinion, but not quite like Ymir. There was a limit to how much of a self-absorbed stuck-up bitch one can stand acting like before being consumed by that festering guise like Reiner had fallen victim to. He was soft-hearted and social, so it was inevitable that he would fall pray to the whole 'soldier boy' routine. Annie though believed she would be strong enough to resist the lull her so called 'friends' had been part of, but it was a useless attempt on her part, considering Mina's influence. She had even tried her hand at wearing a mask of pragmatic boredom the entire time she had been around the others for personal reasons that no one can possibly understand; it was for her protection for Rose's sake.

Not even _he_ can understand her at this point.

A part of her had felt like she and Armin can commune in a wordless way their shared desire to survive so they both can meet their own goals, and so she felt connected with him in a detached sense. Maybe that was why she couldn't kill him that time; she respected those who have the conviction to face off the inevitable because she herself possessed none of the same resolve as Armin and Eren both have. However, that's where the similarities ended. Much to her bitter chagrin, Armin had had the courage to carry out his duties so frustratingly well coupled with his sense of purpose that it had heralded her downfall. He went out of his way to aid the Commander in her exposure and capture and he didn't think twice to do it once push turned into shove. Unlike him she will not die if commanded; she refused such a fate. It defeated the purpose of her place here as an agent of sorts. Be it a direct order from a superior officer or even _they_ and she will out right refuse it and bolt. Even then that doesn't seem to be the case anymore...

She had encompassed herself in a shard of corrupted Titan's essence after all.

_That is indeed where the line is drawn, Armin; one of many to be more precise. You're bold even when you're scared to pissing yourself and I'm a shaken coward no matter what. I can't stand dark enclosed spaces and yet I had the audacity to try to face the Recon's elites and duel Eren at the same time? That was pure desperation on my part. I balked and ran away right when the toughest part of the trial reared its ugly head and I lost my chance to capture Jaeger as a result. I'm too afraid of the consequences of living but I don't want to die either. That doesn't matter anymore does it? We are all trapped._

_Humanity's dying right now, the walls are coming down on top our heads and the shifters are loose. I should be happy the job is done and that means I don't have to continue this farce anymore, but I still feel like there is something else to do. What I set out to do purely out of my own volition is still unfulfilled._

_Going home now... Should I try to go or will that be gone too?_

_Where would I even turn to now?_

Annie fussed with the injury and noted Armin's loss of both sense and consciousness hurrying her hands and willing for his survival. She tried to get Armin to wake whist wrapping his wound but that's when she noticed his eye was damaged on the right side. Cursing, she finished tying up what was on his waist and tended to the next injury, noting the large amounts of steadily drying red caking his skin and hair. She had not forgotten how fragile Armin's body was; he was last in the class in terms of physical endurance and capabilities. If anything, he was always in the clinic more often if it wasn't Eren and Jean for fighting or Connie and Sasha for getting into some hare-brained ploys. Thinking back on those times now did leave a warmer feeling then she was familiar with settle into her stomach, a longing for a simpler living without conflict reigning over her.

"What am I thinking-?"

She shook her head, not believing what she was pondering and doing even now. She had adamantly believed they would all remain as her enemies, no matter what the situation would be upon her reawaking. Despite all of these ties she thought she could avoid, here she sat in a great puddle of Armin's blood trying to stay Death's hand, its horrible fist shaking just shy above Armin's form as if in hesitation. Her attempt at saving him was contrary to what she sought to do originally. The new apocalypse has arrived and she decides now to reflect on times lost and friendships forgotten? Why was she saving the life of a traitor anyway? He sold her out to Smith for a reason.

_No... I was the traitor, although a shifter has no place in human society to begin with. Besides, Armin has had his priorities straightened out since the beginning compared to me. Reiner, Bertholdt, and I however..._

_And him..._

_We could never... ever..._

Annie let out a breath she only now became aware that she was holding. Why think about this now? She wasn't a good person; she never was as far as she was concerned. They just didn't meet the requirements of being human. The whole ruse was intended to alienate and discourage people with associating with them in the first damn place.

_'I'm glad I can look like such a good person to you.'_

Annie glanced down at Armin's chilled and rounded features, slowly letting it dawn on her that he seemed to appear more differently to her than he did in the dark. In the flickering dimness of the crackling flame nearby, his face held a more tired and somewhat longer and older expression that had grown on him during their time apart. The sharper contours lining his jaw was the only justice his pubescent aging was doing for him, other than a slight increase in height. Even in sleep, his face was contorted with a pain Annie found oddly out of place on his normally boyish facade. His youthful enthusiasm had all but gone, leaving behind this somewhat aged and nearly broken pawn in its wake, a boy forced to grow into a man in this wretched world. It was depressing to notice. She had also observed he was a bit heavier too as she strained to carefully move him into a recovery position; had he gained weight? Was he stronger at all or is she just that weak?

Annie crinkled her nose and recalled that she will be largely unable to transform for another short while; her body was still trying to move back into its usual metabolic needs. Remembering the danger, she took in the overall land surrounding them but saw that the area was rather deserted. There were some sparsely placed trees that would not suffice for cover and the Wall was behind them.

..._'A good person' to Armin? Why him anyway?_

Annie finished settling Armin down and checked for any other unnoticeable injuries; sensitive bones was what she met with after a little probing. Armin had a fractured set of ribs and arm, but otherwise, he can walk given if he wakes up. The real harm had been the blood loss.

She then sighed and attempted to find any rations in his satchel where she found the knife earlier, remembering that the usage of her powers without fail always gave her a dire craving for both food and water; especially the latter. Annie was disappointed when she didn't locate the food but she did find the tiniest bit of water leftover in his flask. There was a crack in the side where the majority of the water had sluiced through but enough for a couple of mouth fulls for her and Armin. Taking a gulp was all she permitted herself, then she capped it off and set it on its undamaged side next to her and proceeded to vacantly stare at the meager fire writhing away in a hissing grumble. As the thin tendrils whispered into the near-freezing air she shuddered and thought about what to do with herself now that there was no more hurry and immediate action required of her in her mission. She can do whatever she wanted the more she reflected on her position.

Going back to the Walls isn't an option, that she know for sure. If Humanity isn't extinct in days if not hours, she would have to be put to death. Staying out here wouldn't help either. She weighed the idea of going home and leaving Armin here, but that somewhat defeated her efforts from earlier, not that he doesn't have anywhere to go himself. She could not help but feel herself shiver and curl into a more protective ball they more she played with the ideas.

Her thoughts trailed off, leaving her to bite at her lip and letting her emotions run unchecked on her face. Swiping a loose chunk of hair away from her eye she felt some odd bittersweet combination of relief and loneliness in her isolated state. It felt great to just sit and not have to guard her feelings from the world once in a while, but thinking too much made her more depressed and more suspectably helpless of her impending situation. She had been left alone with her thoughts once already while she had been stuck in crystallized limbo and yet that wasn't so bad, although some intrusive thoughts had turned her dreams into terrors even wakefulness couldn't chase away utterly. Her regrets even now clung to her in a suffocating hold that refused to yield.

_Armin said he knew about Reiner and Bertholdt... I wonder if they're out there or in the walls fighting. Should I meet them in the forest of large trees? We could all head home if we stick together, but I can hardly stand them as it is. Are they even alive? Armin never claimed that they were or weren't. Not to mention we have to bypass the Wall in order to get to Maria's fields..._

She glanced over her shoulder at Armin, whose breath was both thin and labored. The creeping cold of the thick night air was clawing its way into both his pallored skin as well as her own by now. There were no blankets available and her uniform was still damp, adding with the problem of Armin's bled-through sweat-soaked clothing. His raincoat however was all the warmth they have. Annie reached over to where she last placed the cloak and tossed it over Armin so he may not freeze, then she slid herself closer the fire and rubbed her arms and tried to dry herself off faster.

_I shouldn't have stepped into Armin's plan. Deliberately doing so may have caused a lot of this to happen didn't it?_

Annie knew Armin was trying to spring a trap ever since he first asked of her to help Eren in his 'escape'; she had felt his guilt radiating off of him in waves. Not to mention his eyes.

_He looked at me like I was the real monster._

_...No... Was it with fear or regret that he stared at me so?_

_The latter perhaps...?_

She shook off the idea. Annie and Armin both thought they knew the other better and placed their bets based off what the opposing was like and willing to sacrifice, despite the state of their feelings about the whole case. The thought made the former trainee snort: that was probably the most risky and more daring part of their game. It had an appeal that held the fancy of a subtly placed challenge that enticed the two to lash out, and someone like Annie herself could not refuse a fight given the invite. Reiner's teasing her back in training was proof of that; he purposely invoked her ire to test the boundaries of her anger and although he was decked pretty well afterward, he had won in an essence. He knew she would fight and she did, and that was exactly what Armin had done too, albeit in a more unwanted way. Annie herself had anticipated she would do it and yet simply knowing had not saved her. She blundered right into the snare despite her intellect telling her not to take the bait and look where she is now.

Wondering whether or not to live or die and contemplating the fate of the instigator sitting and recuperating behind her.

Reiner had told her- No, he had warned her that she was just not cut out to be a soldier. Could he have meant that she was a failing example of a warrior too?

Or is it that he was warning her about her pride?

_My pride... Ha. Perhaps he was telling me not to take the inclination to fight so literally. I was taught to never back down, and yet I did just that with Eren last time. I was taught to pick my fights wisely, especially ones I know I can win and yet I couldn't even do that. I was taught to treat everyone and everything as my enemy, and yet..._

A picture of a black-haired girl with a parted set of ponytails perkily chattering away like a squirrel on a sugar rush came to mind.

_Mina... Would you have hated me if you knew what I really was?_

Said girl was always willing to defend Annie whenever someone confronted her, out of her own self-asserted intent. Mina was never judgmental, she was kind and patient too and although Annie never wanted anything to do with her originally, she was somebody Annie knew she could trust. Trust was a fragile concept but Mina never once left Annie to doubt that the girl would break what they shared. Sometimes Mina can even guess when Annie wanted to be left alone and she would assure no one else bothered her whenever she felt so down.

How many people in Annie's life chose to voluntary fall into a relationship of any sort with her? How many more actually had the nerve to speak to her and be respectful about it? How few were the people Annie had come to know opted to talk so kindly to her?

There were some, but Mina was the only person who can actually answer all of those questions without any hesitation.

Annie only noticed she was crying once her eyesight blurred and her cheeks began to sting from the combination of both cold air and hot tears. She was mutely glad Armin had not noticed her emotional turmoil and was fast asleep behind her instead. She hastily tried to dab off the unwanted and very visible sign of her sadness and drew yet even closer to the dwindling hearth. Her heart had been a shrunken mess for years and yet it now decides to allow sentiment to so agonizingly gnaw at her hateful innards.

_Seriously get a grip._

Armin alerted Annie of his shift between pain and minor discomfort and back again nearby, eliciting the warrior to turn and warily regard his state of being. Armin's uncovered eye squeezed tightly and his brow furrowed so deeply it would have put Eren's scowl to shame. His hand fisted into his coat and his back lifted off the grass just bit before he settled himself once again and turned his head towards her. He never awoke, but Annie still did not want him seeing that she had been letting her emotions run tear-tracks down her face. Turning away again, she piled more leaf litter into the fire and tossed in whatever sticks she can reach as well.

_I need to decide what to do with Armin between now and sunrise. I still have a little while considering the moon's position, but I'll have to make up my mind and do something about this even before then. The big question is what exactly should I do with him and if I can even get home at this rate._

That is if home wasn't a steaming pile of rubble like the interior walls will be.

Annie gazed heavenward and weighed her situation with her actions, but did not have to think long before she noted how wonderfully clear the sky was. It was its own wonder; there was no lights from civilization blotting out the fainter, and even the stars surrounding the moon were unhindered by the crippling halo emanating from it. The mosaic of blues and indigo and inky black were broken by a stupendous swell of white slicing right through the middle of the sky. A river of celestial bodies flowing through its milky-colored current in a frozen brilliance that Annie had never saw and understood before. The term star-struck stood out to her just then, her mind drifting back to the lost ripples of her time with her fellow trainees. To her, it even seemed to resemble some of the hot summer nights at her old home. She sighed.

_Armin... He pointed out that we cannot see so much of the stars while we lived so close to such huge and sprawling settlements like Trost because the lights altogether chased them away. I thought he was just being a daydreamer but I guess he was right. But then again, he was right about a lot of things isn't he?_

_...Why do I feel a little better just by looking at them?_

What she had failed to notice though was that a certain somebody had stirred behind her.

"Beautiful isn't it, Annie?"

When Annie had spun around so dramatically that she could have sworn that she cracked her neck. She found an eye of a deeply saturated blue steadily gazing at her own frostier pair.


	2. The Game's Interlude

_Here's part 2 people. Hope its better than the first! By the way, I will be revising and repairing any mistakes made in any of the chapters and what I put up in the future but it will take some time and some help in order to do so; I'm using a word program that doesn't due auto-correct and I can mispell stuff pretty easily. So bear with me people!_

_Also, throw in some ideas. I'll be happy to take suggestions and theories and incorporate them into this fic as best as I can!_

_This chapter is centered on Annie's thoughts mainly, and I know these are some boring dialogue scenes but once again, we all know Shingeki no Kyojin can be slow-going. I just hope its not that slow for you all! :(_

_Take note of the amount of emotions going on with these two as well; I hope they're not ooc and please tell me if they are! I'll fix it in the long run. I'll have you all know Armin is also not as mentally stable as he used to be; let's face it: In the series he's been through some crazy shit and he's on the verge of giving up; sorry if he seems out of it. He's also injured._

_And Annies's more emotional than we all thought... There's some subtle bits that prove it but you don't need me to write it out. She just came out her crystal and she is not in the best of moods._

_Anyway, enjoy my lovelies, and be patient! The best has yet to come._

_:)_

* * *

"Beautiful isn't it, Annie?"

Annie had spun around so dramatically that she could have sworn that she cracked her neck; a single eye of deeply saturated blue steadily gazing at her own frostier pair. What she had found looking at her was none other than Armin Arlert himself, active enough to be both awake and sitting propped up on his undamaged elbow while looking at her more so than the stars. He must not have been asleep at all, if anything dozing. She pinched up her face in just a flash, a little abashed and moreover aggravated that Armin had been conscious long enough to have quite possibly caught sight of her vulnerability. Looking away, she forcefully leveled her infuriation to a minimum and chose not to reply. Her shoulders went stiff with apprehension for some invisible reason that she could not forsee.

Armin twisted his chapped and bitten lips into a weak lop-sided smirk that appeared to be barely more than a pathetic twitch upon seeing her reaction. His expression was a little too all-knowing for her comfort. "-What? Did I say something unusual or are you still contemplating making my death wish a reality?"

"That's not funny Armin."

"I never implied that it was."

She shivered in such a subtle way that Armin thought he had mistaken the observation. She went on to ask in a bilious way, "I thought you were going to die in your sleep?"

The injured blond found his gaze arrested on the blood-stained coat spread over him and shook his head, "I thought the same. Unfortunately you're making it very difficult for me to pass on so easily. I would think you would have willed for it."

Annie shrugged in a half-hearted way, "You should be grateful I even did that for you. I could have let your stupid ass go and I wouldn't have cared if you did."

"As nice as the gesture is, why did you bother to mend my wounds if you say you didn't care?"

Annie wondered if he was always so mouthy after he stirs. She internally told herself to never do anything 'nice' for Armin from then on. She made sure that she had as little inflection as possible in her next response; a practice she had finely perfected. "Then neither one of us would ever be able to try our next hand in this little wager of ours."

Her reply seemed to have passed over Armin's bandaged skull completely. Somehow, Annie knew that without sparing a single glance over her icy shoulder that the flaxon-haired soldier was smiling more and more every second that ticked by. This annoyed her greatly. If anything, he seemed amused by her connotation of trying to act as uncaring as could be. He kept his mouth shut and chose not to elaborate on her decision, but it made his amiable aura suddenly palpable and caused for Annie's skin to crawl in an unpleasant way. It was bad enough she did not forgive the brat for betraying her dual Titan nature to the Commander of the scouts himself, let alone herself for sparing him multiple times.

_What is up with me?_

The question was an odd one that had arose from a more alien part of her psyche. She tried not to display any of her thoughts flitting about like an enraged hummingbird on her face as she turned to stare at Armin with a serious look that he wasn't unfamiliar with. She exclaimed rather crossly, "I do mean it when I say this: I intend to not be so lenient with you whenever and whatever the circumstance of our next conflict is. No matter what form it takes and whatever happens between you and me, I will make my ends right. I saved you on a whim Arlert. A whim that will be for my own benefit further along these crossroads."

She felt some satisfaction bubble up from within her upon seeing his expression fall. Believing herself settled for the first time since her awakening, she returned her attention on their puny fire roiling along its pit. Prodding at it, a short silence was met. However, she had not expected Armin to say something so soon after her promise.

"Oh... Is that really it? Truly?"

The inquiry made Annie's gut tighten; Armin's voice sounded expression-less as could be and it was abhorringly difficult to read it when it got that way. What's worse is that she had a paranoid thought that it leaned so closely to having _hurt _in it that it gave the illusion that he might actually be saddened by her statement.

He went on after he withdrew a necessary breath, his exhaustion still clinging to him. "This promise of yours; is it really that or is it a threat?"

She scrutinized the hissing flame, her eyes narrowed, "What difference does it make if it's either or? And what are you going on about now?"

Armin settled himself back into his supine position, his eye brighter than they were earlier. With an enigmatic stare he aimed right at the girl, he continued, "Your words were intended to absolve my curiosity and silence me under the pretenses meant to intimidate, but it did nothing of the sort. Your earlier behavior prior to your imprisonment is contradictory to what you have done for me a short while ago; this baffles me. Care to explain?"

_He's breaking me down like I'm some easy-to-read animal. Smart ass bastard._

"Why do I have to explain myself to you?" She tossed him a well-honed scowl that had always and without fail normally laid a conversation between her and anybody else to rest.

But Armin was always the wayward scholar, "I am not convinced that this bet of ours has anything to do with your unwarranted actions aimed for my self-being."

"Your point?"

"-The point is; do you say that only to convince yourself that you want to complete your objective or is it something more personal?"

Annie's eyes went from icy to downright flinty in less than a second while her voice took on a more choleric undertone, "Ask another question like that and I'll rip out your slimy shit-smelling guts from your mouth and shove them where the sun doesn't quite shine."

Her tone was all Armin needed to hear in order to drop the subject.

He directed his thoughtful expression towards the shining skies and said more lowly, "I knew you were a nicer person than you let on, Annie."

She nearly blew her top then considering her _extremely _delicate temper as of now; the only reason she hasn't buried him already was because she had acted upon a whim. That snarky numbnuts was probably still suffering from brain damage and blood-less she pegged. Annie had mutely hoped he would become stupid too from said injuries, but things were never that easy. Trying to reign in on her anger she concentrated on their campfire and attempted the cool-down exercises she used whenever she got frustrated in her training early on in her young life. Armin was so puzzling to her and it just rubbed on her nerves like sandpaper on a burn. He was smart enough to pretend to act dumb at the best of times and others he would just be so glaringly intelligent that it made speaking to him difficult; a way that made Annie feel like a toddler was trying to hold a sophisticated conversation with a wizened sage of countless years.

Another pause had in the mean-time quieted the two, Annie trying to keep their tiny flame a lit and Armin so painfully silent that she believed him to be asleep again, perhaps dead she added as an after-thought. Time slithered by, the awkwardness of the pause having subsided into something that bordered along peaceful as the two sat forlorn in the middle of the plain. Her temper simmering down back to its usual lukewarm ways, she tried to keep her eyes on her on-going task and her wild thoughts on possible alternatives to their plight. Annie would never admit to herself under normal circumstances that she needed Armin's superior tactical thinking in order to continue from where they sit now, but this situation was dire. It was not considered 'normal' even for a stranded soldier's viewpoint. So willing him to do die was not such a good idea; she needed him to help her out, nothing more than that.

Trying not to dwell on the many although similarly horrible outcomes of their failure Annie shook off her unease by occupying her hands with something else. She began to identify what items they possessed and how well utilized each tool would be. To her disappointment, their inventory was merely the satchel of survival tools Armin had brought with him; the aforementioned cracked flask, the knife used to trim Arlert's clothes, the box of first aid she had largely used on his heavy bleeding, some matches, and oils that were supposed to light fires or lanterns. A pitiful stock that also had no food she had been hoping she might have overlooked the first time she searched. Cursing, she threw herself onto the grass and stared heavenward, her mood plummeting once again and her belly choosing now to grumble.

Armin shifted in his make-shift bedding and glanced at her, picking up on her metabolic need and with a grim revelation noted that he had nothing in his belongings that can placate said hunger; either for her or himself.

A thought falling to mind, he began tentatively, "You know, I have a fla-"

"Already saw it. It was cracked to near uselessness. It has a mouthful left," she bitterly interrupted.

"...Oh."

He merely looked up at the stars again and breathed; his brain sluggishly trying to work itself back to its semi-normal, constantly buzzing motion. He then tried, "Maybe we can try to-"

"If you know what's good for you, I'd recommend you to shut up."

And so he quieted.

The two ended up keeping their gaze on the spirals of twisted white above, both of which dolefully reflecting what they can or cannot do. Some time ago, Armin would excitedly point out the existing constellations and histories each would have, alongside inquiring on the favorite shape his present companions liked. Without being so forward about it, he would then go on to ask them about what life they wish to lead had they not been soldiers. Then he'd gently urge them to speak about their dreams and the conversation would somehow end up on the taboo of subjects; the world beyond the walls. The companions in question that he would indeed be speaking to were the people he grew up with. Armin was most comfortable with talking so openly in front Eren and Mikasa of course but sadly, they were not here with him to enjoy the meticulous harmony of the inky skies. Hell, even Jean would be pleasurable company in his own stuck-up hard-nosed way. He was friendly enough and he would press Armin on what he was thinking, an honest fellow to talk to oddly enough; Eren had mumbled that the 'horse-faced' bastard can grow on you like a festering canker sore as of late.

Armin had to shake off the passing images of his possibly-dead companions. The mere remembrance of them made him heart-sick and left the boy even colder in his fingertips than he was when he had been dying.

After minutes ticked by, Annie was strangely the one to speak up.

"Do you honestly think me a nice person?"

Armin focused his somewhat blurry eyesight on her, "Eh?"

Annie kept her eyes centered on a certain star as she reiterated, "I asked if you still see me as a nice person... Because I don't see it."

"See what?"

"Why I'm so nice to you, dumbass."

Armin twitched his nose at that insult, "Oh, right... Well, I thought you of all people already understood that." He worked his jaw in deep reflection before he said, "You come off as someone who seems more decisive with the why than most."

Annie harumphed next to him.

He lifted the corner of his lip a little and peered back at the sky, "I could bluntly say, 'it's because you saved my life' but its more complicated than that."

"How so?"

"You tell me," he mumbled mystically.

"Smart-ass."

With a soft _hmf _he cracked a slightly larger smirk, his bright stare still primarily arrested on the constellations above, although the corner of his vision was trying to gauge the girl next to him. With a sigh he continued, "...Well, to start, you didn't just save my life once, it was on multiple occasions actually. The reasoning though stands in question, and I say 'you tell me' because only you can answer that with confirmation."

Annie finally decided Armin was worth her gaze. She turned to face him fully for the first time that night other then dressing his wounds and propped herself on her arms, her back to the fire. Her crystaline eyes were still eerily shadowed by the angry crimson veins around her sockets, but not as strongly as before. She said nothing, but her attention indicated for Armin to proceed.

"-I know I say that you can be the only person to say why, but the impression you left me with our meeting at the gear-inspection was really because you respect certain people in an unseen way based on their conviction." He then added in a slightly more confident tone, "You enact on their behalf whenever said person has their beliefs challenged because you wish to protect that honorable trait: the willingness and freedom to do whatever it takes in order to assert yourself in your own life and to give it some meaning thereoff. It is something most if not all of mankind share."

Annie blinked at him slowly as a response to the statement, and so Armin felt encouraged to continue. "Anyway, as things stand you are heavily compromised because of your role as a Titan Shifter that is currently being employed by humanity's enemies... whoever they are. They have a use for you that completely if not utterly removes the ability to make decisions so critically based on resolve."

Annie clicked her tongue at what Armin had explained, but he just kept on going without much notice, "As a human with a heavy burden, you understand the desire to give your life the savory sweetness of self-importance. However, you have a mission to do and you don't wish to give it away to possible friends and/or allies. You keep your distance for the better benefit of eliminating any detection while keeping the people you trust or care for safe. It also gives you the bitter satisfaction of feeling important enough to have the power to change so much while you sit alone, but it was not in a way you would have warranted otherwise. To give your life the meaning you want is just not a privilege you have."

Armin's mouth kept on running like untapped water, all the while Annie's face was slowly morphing from the typical expression of bored contempt and forming steadily into the perfect picture of shocked silence. She wanted to shush the young man at the sheer madness of it but she couldn't even begin.

His voice picked up a slightly deeper and more pensive note as he said, "What I gleaned from our last meeting was that after the gesture of taking my plea for help, even if you knew it could be a trap, you decided to go out on a limb play along. I know you're smart enough to pick up on deceit, so its fair to say that if you did know well enough that my plea was indeed a snare, you went with it because a part of you wanted to seem good to somebody after all the crimes you committed. It makes you feel like your life may have meant something to someone at the very least."

He wore a hooded look after saying this, talking more to himself at this point, "It's quite plausible that you wanted to merely find an opportunity to capture Eren surely enough, but after you said 'I at least can look like such a nice person to you', it leads me to think that it matters more to you that if you look nice to somebody despite it all. Its a human feeling we all understand."

He barely looked at her at all during the explanations. She wondered if he was in some sort of pensive trance. "After all the times you spared me, plus taking up my offer in aiding us in Eren's false escape, and the fact you acknowledged my worth during the inspection by saying I have 'guts', it has almost assuredly concreted my conclusion regarding your ideas on self-worth and what it means to be kind: That it certainly matters to you if someone thinks of you more highly than others would feel inclined to.

"So to answer your earlier question, I say yes, you are a nice person; if only to me in my current knowledge of your mannerisms."

His face suddenly tinted, as if he was just now realizing what he just said. He somewhat squeaked next, "...At least that's what I would think..."

A longer span of silence stretched longer than the last, Annie's intense set of sapphire orbs sightlessly lingering on Armin, although her mind was elsewhere. She looked like she was having an internal panic attack and the look hovering about on her face left Armin to wonder if she was going to snap out of it and strangle the last bit of life out of him. It was really creeping him out.

After a while, she turned away yet again, her eyes softening and the trajectory of her gaze aimed at the cavernous skies once more. She was seen shaking her head slightly, her hands fisted over her breasts. She was seen biting her lip in a way that left the weary soldier perturbed for a moment, having never seen her make the gesture during a conversation before. However, it was her next expression that appalled Armin to near alertness, her mouth moving and curling as her eyes fluttered shut briefly.

She began to laugh.

It wasn't just any laugh either; it was the same weird and insane fit that left her rolling a little ways away from Armin's rounded eye, her muscles bunching and her still-loose hair a golden halo around her scalp. She laughed deeply, her torso shuddering and her hands untangling from each other in order to hug herself so she can keep from rolling either into Armin or their dwindling flame. She kept this up for at least a minute before the laugh faded into something softer and more sane.

To say that Armin was completely unnerved was putting it mildly.

He had to sit up now; it was a major chore to do so, but once he was up he rested an arm around his waist and the other on the ground to keep him in his new position, considering his lacking in strength. He looked on to Annie's formally maddening fit in a confused way, his mouth agape and his one uninjured eye going from perfectly round to half-lidded in the strange and mixed appearance of deluded mild surprise. He didn't dare speak when she was like this; he did not wish to invoke her anger if he did. He waited out her terrible convulsions like it was a routine seizure, and then it was only once she too was sitting up on her heels that he tried to gain the courage to speak.

"Ann-"

"Armin."

He stifled his mouth as she let her arms fall to her lap, her eyes brilliantly aglow in the dim amber stillness of their camp. Keeping her attention fixed on the grass, her mouth still shaped into that odd and uncharacteristic show of a smile as she asked in a soft lilt, "Am I... No, _do _I really look like that to you? Seriously?"

He couldn't respond, so he nodded.

Another sniff like a passing aftermath of her mock joy from earlier escaped her. "And here I thought Mina was the only optimistic idiot I could ever consider a friend. Here you sit Arlert, telling me things about how you see me as a nice person because of my fool-hardy blunders as a failed attempt of my being a warrior. Providing all of this logic and what-not as proof to that and somehow making me out to be so _glaringly _obvious a person. Calling me human, making mention of my ability to make friends and my Titan shifting like its such a normal thing, making me sound like a lost soul stumbling its way through this hellish rat-hole we call a reality. It is so stupid, but flattering in a way. That is so funny to me."

"...It... is?"

She looked at him more directly, but it was mostly under the fringes of her pale hair. "I will not deny, there is some truth to your words. I do consider other people's opinions, and it is indeed their resolve I tend to admire. You are right about me choosing to be caught in your treacherous ploy and trying to act out the good girl bit, but I am afraid that's where your assumptions end."

Her face suddenly seemed older, her smile vanishing and her eyes sunken and dark, "I was no longer a warrior as of then... When I spared you from a fate that could have left you a bloody smear in the grass. I lost my identity then Arlert; my image of a well-trained warrior fit and ready for any challenge. Do you understand?"

He gave a slight tilt of his head at this.

"A part of me hopelessly believed that I could have a friend like Mina and move on with this incredible tragedy we call a war, but during the clean-up in Trost, I was reminded of my role, only to have that taken from me after that expedition. No... I willingly gave it up just because I admire your hateful, dirty, slimy, twisted guts; your courage to die although you don't want to, for a race's sake that was rendered unsavable long ago... Admiring a person't loyalty to a death wish is so very stupid of me.

"I try to _run _from such situations. I've been doing it my whole life. I go with the flow of the world, helping along the chaos that ensues for my own sake. What did I get out of this?" She leveled her stare somewhere impossible to touch, her eyes almost bulbous in her suddenly hollow face. "Armin, I got nothing out this but one sad and horrible accident after another. I had Mina once, but she is no longer here," She lazily waved it off. "Eren and I... Training him was... amusing but short-lived. He despises me and as for Jean I can only imagine what he'd do if he knew what I did about Marco."

"Wha- Wait, you know how Marco died...?"

She still didn't look at Armin, but she nodded no less, her voice a low drawl. "I do, but he'd blame me for it. I tell you now it was an unsavory accident. He learned about me and Reiner and Bertholdt, and he panicked and went to tell... A very horrible incident. We chased him, but we never meant to kill him at first."

That 'at first' bit could have been left out in Armin's opinion but he listened to Annie's emotionless banter, which went unhinged.

"The other trainees..." She almost whispered. "They were interesting to say the least, a part of me feeling at peace during the years surrounded by them. I look at all of them and drew a conclusion from each in order to stay away from them but I gravitated towards their naiive views. For instance, Christa's nice, but she was faking that good girl role and it grated on my nerves immensely. I never said anything about it though. Ymir's so far up Christa's ass its no wonder she's the color of shit," She paused when she heard Armin snort at this.

"Mikasa was just unreasonable whenever it came to Eren when we trained, and I didn't much like her personality and what she came off as anyway. Jean was an egotistical asshole through and through. Sasha along with her chrome-dome acomplice were just crazy. The others' were just annoying. As far as I can tell everybody, excluding Mina, absolutely loathe me or were completely intimdated. I didn't mind at first but now..."

She trailed off like her brain decided to shut off. Noticing the odd way she was acting, Armin went on to ask, "What about Reiner?"

"He thinks he cares, but he's an ass like everyone else. He only _really _cares for Bertholdt above all. Anything happen to him, and he would be beyond all voice and reason."

Armin raised an eyebrow, "-And Bertholdt is to you...?"

She shrugged. How could she feel towards a man so taciturn that even she could not hope to peg him correctly? "He's... nice I suppose. He stares too much."

That's when Armin had to know, "Did you not know anything of Bertholdt's feelings towards you?"

She shook her head.

Armin let out a slight gasp that bordered a girlish squeak. Annie looked up at him at this and asked, "What? He's not dead is he?"

"Ah, no, as far as I know but that's for Bert to tell you; I heard from Eren he may have been eye-balling you for quite some time. I'd do a double-check on your history if I were you. You said yourself he stares too much."

Annie puzzled over this for only a second before comprehension bloomed forth. She finally lifted her head from staring so intentedly from the ground and mumbled, "Bertholdt... Does he actually give a damn I wonder?"

Armin's eye went from Annie and then to his crumpled coat on his lap, "If only you knew of our last encounter..."

She gazed at Armin fully suddenly, but the lad kept his eyes glued to a very fascinating crinkle in his stained coat.

"What happened-?"

A sigh escaped him before he answered, his shoulders slumping. "I don't think we have the time to cover all that. It takes a lot of explaining even though it happened within days of your capture. Anyway, you were just telling me everything is hopeless huh?"

Annie found her vision once again at her hands, feeling the weight of it all sitting heavily on her suddenly trembling frame. She mutely felt silly for having spilled her guts to Armin regarding her view on matters, but she soon noted that she didn't want to care anymore. It was all very cold again, both the world and her physical being; the fire having all but died in its hearth.

Upon remembrance, Annie made to move toward it but decided against it once she realized there was more light in this dark realm then she had originally perceived. The moon was low on the horizon, and the stars were fading gently into oblivion; the milkiness of the heavens having vanished and the colors a lighter blue tinged with dawn pink. It was a sheer sign that the sun was rising very soon and it unnerved Annie. She withdrew her hand and went right back into the serious girl that she was, tossing everything into the pack and mouthing curses, their conversation lost.

Armin had just noticed the slowly lighting line along the flat lands and walls as well, letting out a weak 'eep' and scouring the terrain of all of his belongings and of Titans. He found his gear again but it was smashed to uselessness and there was hardly any gas to use at all he recalled. He tried to stand next but he couldn't even get his legs to cooperate, and crawling was out of the question; his arm was fractured and he had a broken finger to work with. Sputtering foul words that would have made Levi proud he turned to Annie and watched her take everything usable and jumped when she threw his pouch at him.

"Its yours, Alert," she had that annoying bored sound to her voice again, as if none of their earlier reconciliation had ever occurred. "We need to think of a plan and stick to it: now."

"P-plan?"

"What do you think?"

"Think of wha-?"

"Where should we go?"

"Huh?"

"Arlert! Focus! What should we do?"

_I feel ridiculous. I'm asking this whelp for help. He betrayed me and sold me out and he's a loyal lover of humanity and he's an annoying smart-ass that is hatefully and overly attached to that wretched Mikasa and Eren by the hip and he's such a pain in my ass and-_

_-he's all the ally I have now._

_...The fuck am I thinking...?_

Armin stared at Annie like he's never seen her before, his expression dumbly blank and his hands frozen over the pouch. He might have been thinking too fast or not at all for all she knew. She made a threatening advance and loomed over him, her hands balled at her sides and putting out her lip in a way that he understood as an _I mean business _sort of way. As if waking up from a daydream, he shook his dirty head and recentered his attention on their situation. His eye was clear but his mind was mired in fog. He felt his lower and broken lip shake in a way that was representative of his quick-emergency thinking, but Annie had to wait for a full minute until he chose to speak.

"We were enemies last time I checked. You're asking me these things why?"

She squared her shoulders.

"Don't you want to go home and leave my 'smart-ass' here while you search for Reiner and Bertholdt? Or maybe that Ape-?"

_The Ape Titan!_

She felt her heart quicken at the mention of the Ape Titan, "You saw him then."

"...Yeah, and?"

"What was he doing when you encountered him?"

Armin's expression became sour, his button-shaped nose wrinkling. "He was trying to abduct you... or rescue you; couldn't really see the difference. How do you think we got down here in the first place?"

Annie's bored look flip-flopped to shock once again, her eyes suddenly conflicted. This change startled Armin horrendously, reminding him of Annie's emotional turmoil. It was easy to forget she can even be this capable of being so open about her feelings since she was always such a difficult individual. It was new to him considering her usual reticent behavior that normally exhibited her profound disinterest with the world.

"Where was he seen last-?" She carefully ground out.

Armin flicked his bandaged head lightly behind her, indicating the last place he knew off. Annie followed his scowl towards Wall Sina and scanned its entirety, but saw nothing of the mentioned menace. She got the idea though. He had earlier exclaimed that the grizzled Beast had been attacking Humanity's inner sanctum and had liberated her of her imprisonment, both of the stony and crystal sense. This had left her thinking however; she had been so convinced that her job was done that hearing about this Titan's bid to 'rescue' her left her reeling. She had thought she was free of her terrible and sinful obligations as a shifter. His attempt to take her was a symbol of his way of saying she wasn't done being used yet.

In truth, she was sick of all of this nonsense and was quite fed up with it. She never wanted to go back, whether it was the fighting or her possibly ruined birthplace. Home seemed so far away and the thought was foreign to her, and the path back was crawling with hazards that she can manage only in her Titan form. She pondered on its existence and state of being and whether she was comfortable with the idea of returning to it and finding out if it had become a smoldering wreck. She had tried to do it before while she was fighting Eren; what was stopping her now?

As if reading her mind, Armin had spoken up, "Well Annie, you're free, and I can't stop you."

She redirected her troubled stare onto the withered soldier, his voice anchoring her back to her impending plight.

At her gaze, he fidgeted but never wavored in both voice and attentiveness, his eyes that annoying blank and calculating intensity that made her feel very exposed, "I said you can leave, and you really should before the Titans rise and shine. What are you lingering here for?"

_Is he... testing me?_

Annie frowned at him but it was half-hearted. "Why do you care? Scared I'll leave you to be Titan fodder?"

"I could be, but that isn't what's important right now. Problem is, you're still here, and you seem to be having trouble deciding something here. You wanted me to help you right?"

Annie faltered, but it wasn't that plain to see. Something about Armin's scathing implification bothered her greatly.

_Did his personality... change? I couldn't tell before but now..._

She sniffed, "So what?"

"You haven't left me to die, you patched me up, you assured I'd survive the night by playing sentinel and you'd even entertained my questions and responded in kind. This is an odd reversal of your personality... Or maybe this kindness was always there?"

She ground her teeth together, "Kindness? I just needed some information on the current situation. A debriefing was what I was hoping to receive. I don't need to be your babysitter any longer; I can and will head straight home."

His mouth lifted into a smile that beheld no warmth. It was horribly cold and detached and unfit to be on his normally shining face. His eyes were almost every bit as icy as hers, and they were livid with an emotion she could not discern. It was a harsh and rather staggering turn of events, like an insane stranger was wearing his face.

"Well go; I just wonder why you're not heading towards the Ape and his summons."

"Its not like I can do anything about the job anymore; I was disposable."

"Not to him you are."

_What is he trying to do? Piss me off more?_

The sun rose ever higher as they sized each-other up, their minds working in full force. Even Armin's injured brain seemed to be functioning just fine and a little too fast much to Annie's discomfort; he was _deliberately _trying to prompt her to do something, she can feel it.

With a snarl she mouthed, "Are you trying to get me to kill you because you are a major coward in truth? Don't wanna be breakfast for the walking meat bags out there?"

"Not at all, although I'll be honest here; I don't want to die needlessly and be an easy meal for a stinking Titan that so happens to pass by." His weird expression waned a little, "I could be tempting you or maybe I'm not."

"Cut the crap, Arlert," She spat. "What are you trying to do in your predicament anyhow?"

"What do you think?"

If she thought she wasn't already sick of him then she was damn sure she was sick of him now.

"You cocky little wastrel," Her eyes narrowed to the very nearest point of closing them. "The hell are you getting so worked up at me for anyway? I saved your god-damned life and you have the nerve to-"

"You're the one that's getting so worked up, not me."

She bared her teeth and breathed venom as she spoke, "What's your point with this interrogation then?!"

Armin leaned toward her and shouted, "I'm calling you out on our bet, Annie! You're about to turn and run away again like last time! Are you or are you not going to finish what you started?"

This rooted Annie to the spot, her words choked off between her throat and her mouth. Armin glared at her with a fury she never expected him to have, his small chest heaving from the extensive conversations they had previously. He was supposed to be resting in truth, but he was throwing the pitiful remaints of his energy just to throw her off. Not to mention he was a hair's width from insane. What has gotten into the smartie she pondered.

"We can't stay here all morning. Will you or will you not finish the job or would you rather leave me here to be eaten? Either way I'm finished. I can't even hope to get to wall let alone climb it, but that doesn't matter to you anyway right?" Armin's eyes were more level and determined than ever, despite the fact that he was indeed in a crisis situation. "...Or maybe you're letting me live because you need my help? Why don't you ante up?"

"If you die either way, then why say something about this?"

He pursed his lip before shifting his face into a calm if not resigned mask, "Because there is a fine difference between leaving your easy prey out to be eaten by something else or actually making the kill yourself. You didn't need me to tell you that; you knew that all along, miss warrior."

Once again, Armin makes a frustratingly valid point.

Annie's fists dug into her shaken palms, her face ablaze with an anger that clenched her jaw and sent acid spitting from her eyes. She had only so much self control but this was very trying for her already shallow-rooted temper. She spun on her feet and stared hotly at the wall and then darted a glance out into the open plains. The choices may have been obvious to her but not the decision. She was torn in-betwixt her role and her desires coupled with a proclamation she had once made with this dour-faced youth sitting helpless in his own excreta. Going home or returning to the fight was one thing, but the remarkable notation of actually killing Armin Arlert was another entirely, seeing how that no matter which way she went she have to be conflicted with the idea of doing either or.

She should have let him die in his own bodily filth while she had the chance.

Throwing her head back and staring huntedly at the endless skies, she knew she had to do something. Nostrils flared, a small jet of vapor simmered past and it somewhat startled Armin that she can do even that in her human form, but it served as a reminder of her capabilities as a Titan-shifting master. Why was killing him now so hard? She _had _saved his life for a reason.

Remembering the purpose of her earlier actions she lowered her surly glare back at the strategist, his eyes a fiery glow despite the chilled color of his azul gaze. She had forced out through her pearly whites, "I'm sticking to my end no matter what. I'll let you live so I may kill you later, Arlert. I made this clear to you earlier did I not?"

"You may have said it clearly, but the meaning didn't quite stick," He retorted.

Her jugular throbbed with a prominent display of an infuriated blood-flow, but her hands unclenched and she was suddenly helping the boy to his feet with a force that clearly indicated how she exactly felt about him and his bluffs. He stumbled as she aided in his rising, her hands a vice on his free arm. He hissed and it mutely gave the former warrior the satisfaction in knowing he wasn't enjoying this anymore than she was. By the time he was on his feet though, he had managed to unload yet another question to add the fuel to her inner fire.

"So what now? You're hulling me with you no matter what?"

"What do you think?"

His words being tossed back at him didn't bother him as much as she hoped it would. He merely went on, "So that makes me your prisoner. A weakling who can't fight nor run. How droll."

"Can't a hunter play with its food a little?"

"You are more twisted than I had pegged you to be."

"And you're more of a grievance than I had originally thought you out to be."

"Touche`," Armin's face had that grotesque smirk again. "So now what? The Ape or your lost Home, Annie?"

She removed her eyes from him just to avoid seeing his derisive expression; the look he was giving her left her feeling like she was something made out to be an indecisive coward. Staring at the earth, she weighed all of what she can do with extreme detail and careful thinking. She was no Erwin Smith in the brains department, but even with her knowledge she knew that one of the choices was a fool's errand at this point:

Humanity's finished the very instant the Beast Titan attacked, not to mention the corrupted natures of the people behind Sina's barriers being weighed into the equation. Remembering Armin's earlier mention of Eren being in enemy hands as well, she could not help but shiver at the thought of him being devoured by actual _people _instead of Titans. She had no more love for Eren after her last fight, but her 'love' for him was only mutual respect as a fighter and ally anyhow. Going back into the wall meant for her and Armin to do some fighting that seemed to be very taxing and pointless since the Titans virtually won at this point and there was the added danger of dying needlessly. Eren was just too valuable to lose but the Beast Titan was already in the Wall, most likely trying to find him.

There was also the easy and obvious choice of going home too, but it seemed far too easy.

Annie's face contorted into a more reflective visage, her mind working at a pace that nearly had her pulling her hair out. Going home seemed to be the only choice, but what if the Ape knew she turned tail and fled to the place of her birth and he would be there to receive her? Would he be angry about it and kill her or would he severely detain her so badly that he could destroy her physically and emotionally? Is her home even standing and is it worth the exhausting trip there? What could she do with Armin upon arrival? What if she went to find Reiner and Bertholdt instead? Could the three of them together help get out of this mess? She knew that Bertholdt wouldn't leave her hanging and she was sure Reiner would do the same but they might certainly be angry with her decision to come without the coordinate.

_I'm burning up too much time thinking about it. The choices are so damn hard to pick from. Why is leading an easy life so fucking difficult? You might as well do things the hard way if that's true..._

Annie finally landed her eyes on Armin, the only person in the world who can help her at this moment but he was the one expecting an answer. He was the captive and he was supposed to be following her lead after all. He could for all she knew have the solution already cooked up within those ingenious recesses of his brilliant mind.

_He does better under pressure than me. The hell am I to do?_

Armin's stare fell from the cold all-knowing look and into a more impassive expression; his bruised lips a thin line and his uncovered eye a startling brightness that made Annie's gut knot up. He knew what to do.

_But should I ask?_

Annie suddenly realised the amount of depth of scrutiny in which he was peering her with, as if he was trying to urge her to find the answer for herself. She unsteadily met his glimmering orb with her own doubtful pair while her mind clicked at a slower pace, her thought processing a less disorderly mess. She fought the urge to shake out her uneasiness and kept her hands to her sides at all times. Two minutes had crept by without her knowing it next. It was then, dawning on her in a way that made her feel stupid for not knowing it sooner, an advent revelation decided to emerge in way that rose like the wayward sun into the horizon. It was what she wanted to know all night ever since her liberation.

With the odd but not so unfamiliar look of intent stretching across her face, she had adamantly announced to her companion, "I know where we need to go, but you're not at the liberty to bitch about it as we head out; you are at my mercy. Is that not clear, Arlert?"

"Crystal," He had replied with conviction.


	3. Forward

_Alright part 3! Woohoo! _

_Remember people; reviews help! I need some ideas and inspiration._

_Moving on with the story. I apologize in advance if its boring._

* * *

Annie's choice had been to run out into Rose's endless pastures in her Titan Form with no particular regard for the direction in which she was going as well as the well-being of her injured passenger and how she can carry him safely through the trek.

As if Armin Arlert didn't already have his fair share of bone-jarring problems.

Once again, Armin found that the few fortunes in this life were by far the worst out of all his peers and it was just getting worse. During the initial part of their journey he started out sitting (more likely sprawled across) in Annie's somewhat curled palm and found in the next heart-attack inducing second that he was covered in her thick, viscous saliva. There had been no warning before he was almost callously tossed into her gaping maw and the light was cut off abruptly. He had to grasp with his only functioning arm the rim of her lower teeth and pray that she doesn't accidentally clamp her jaws together and rip it off. He had to keep his own mouth clamped shut and close his eye in order to keep out the pools of coagulating filth and told himself not to breathe in that rancid Titan air that naturally emanated from the beast's bowels.

He really _hated _his life.

What had he done to some poor bastard out in the world in order to incur this horrible punishment?

_Wonderful. She makes me her prisoner and says she needs me alive but with the way she handles me she might as well have finished me off. _

_She is a sadist deep down isn't she?_

He felt Annie move too suddenly and lost his grip on her incisor and slipped backward, too far for his comfort, all the way to her throat. He managed to attach himself to her molar but it had no true edges to firmly grasp. He mumbled prayers to any of the holy gods he had read in his forbidden books to keep him from being incidentally swallowed. It was a slow death in a Titan's abdomen if left idle and a painful demise if Annie should chose to leave her sizzling Titan body to decay. If he were to be given the choice to die in some particular way, he would without a doubt choose something quicker and not so stupidly flawed as this safety measure.

Outside, he had heard the tell-tale crackle of bone and rumble of the trembling earth; a sheer sign that some stray Titan had gotten into Annie's way and had paid for it dearly. It was likely the sole reason that he had been thrown into this hazardous situation in the first place. Hopefully its death meant that this outrageous scenario can be discontinued. He had already been bullied as a child by the neighborhood drop-outs, but to be playfully and dangerously thrown around like some hacky sack in between Titans and their shifting counterparts was almost beyond what he can take. He expected some jossing about in-betwixt the 'regular' Titans that came with the job of signing into the Scouts but not the transforming menaces that had inexplicably been tossed into the equation.

It was bad enough that he had to be Historia's body double and the little bit of fragile manly dignity he accumulated throughout the mouths had went fluttering out the window after the plan succeeded. The term 'escaping a situation unmolested' had been the furthest from the truth for Armin; the only person that had bothered to pay him any heed had been Jean who had attempted to placate the humiliated blond. Before all that he had tried to optimistically believe that some people had worse off luck than he but he could not think of anyone else having a job quite like his own. He was friends with shifters and unerringly intelligent.

Perhaps he concluded this may have been what compromised some of his life-changing events throughout and he had no reason to think otherwise after this crazy year after graduation. He was constantly in danger and had been almost always ordered to think up some witty escape plots and outsmart the enemies he and the rest of humanity have been faced with. What he got out of this was some unmentionable memories and some bad scars to add to his almost non-existent sense of self-esteem.

What more can he lose? Its not like his life was truly as valuable as Eren's or Historia's.

Armin was suddenly gliding across the Titan's tongue not quite unlike the first time he had been nearly killed, but he was heading towards the exit instead. He was unceremoniously dropped like a wet wad of gum into Annie's hand and felt his waist flare up in renewed and crippling pain. His arm seemed to crumble beneath him and he was spitting into her palm, his clothes sticky and heavy on his bedraggled form. He cracked his eye and shook, finding himself peering over the cage of thin fingers and at the disintegrating remains of a 10-meter on the ground far below. He hissed like an angry cat and turned to look at the taller of the two formidable foes and tried to reposition himself, his mouth trying to work itself against the coating of slime caking him.

"Annie! Next time give me a warning!" He barked.

The Female Titan's face remained blank, but Armin was pretty sure she was getting a sick kick out of this deep down.

_Its not like we're friends anyway._

Annie flexed her bony digits protectively around Armin, keeping him from falling from her grip as she went once again into a mild jog. It was lithely smooth in motion but not so much in her steps, her feet slamming into the earth and tearing new craters into its uniform plain. He fought to keep his head from bobbing too much and strained to fight off the migraine burning into his brain. His fractured ribs reminded him of their brittle existence every stride.

He hoped this ride would end very soon.

* * *

The sun had begun to sink in the far west but it did not mean that Annie would stop to rest their laurels. Armin can only gather that she was exhausted from the run from Wall Sina; probably as tired as he was of his own miserable life. A whole 'day-walk' as he called it meant that they were far enough to be beyond the hope of returning to it in human form without a very fast and healthy horse. Their choices in rest areas in this quest were either large trees further along in Maria's lands or the carefully well-hidden hovels in rocky hills that were too craggy to be climable by Titans. It also meant more work for Annie if they really wanted a break and be safe as a result of. Tonight's choice in temporary hideout was located along the river in the distance; whose waters shimmered faintly gold in the waning light.

The thirst and hunger gripped his innards and Armin felt aggravated because of it. The water Annie had meant to save for him he let her have due to her impending dehydration after she freed herself and she needed the liquid in order to get them as far as they did. Following the river was guaranteed to bring them straight to Shiganshina granted they managed to climb the next wall, but it also meant that they wouldn't be able to take cover in the forest of large trees. At least they would have water and hopefully animals will be in the area so they may have a chance of catching a life-sustaining dinner. They did not have of means of climbing the over-sized trees anyway; Armin's gear had been too badly damaged whether or not it needed the gas. Annie had also explained just before the run that she was not capable of lifting the Female Titan's heavily built body off the ground very well or far.

The only real choice then had had been to find a hiding spot along the river and hope to find a hole somewhere in the ridges that loomed meters above the writhing waters. It was dangerous and crazy. But then again, they had no other choice since some blundering Titans noticed Annie's 14-meter form traipsing across the grounds and they wanted a piece of both her and her nearly-dead occupant.

Their lovely drooling followers tailing them not so far behind meant they could not stop throughout the entire day. Armin wanted no part in these headaches anymore but his mind constantly hovered over to the memory of his friends. The images would inspire him to sit straighter in Annie's hand and he let out a breath each time. He was just surprised that he wasn't dead already after all of this craziness.

They were in luck after all; Annie could have missed it since she was trying to get a good distance from their unwanted company but Armin had found it just as they passed a small and formally settled area of recently abandoned buildings. A nice little cavern above the river with a narrow mouth thin enough to keep prying gigantine hands out and grant smaller creatures shelter seemed to beckon the pair towards it. The final problem was that it was on the other side of the twisting curls of water and climbing down to it would be nearly impossible without some sort of aid. It was unnervingly close to the rapids but it beats being eaten.

Armin briefly wondered if Titans can swim. It was a weird and wild idea, never before tested as he surmised but it was what kept them from solace. A theory withheld their promise of a safe passage and the probability that the river was shallow and gentle enough for Annie to wade through and use her height to help them to it seemed to press in on them.

Armin yelled and motioned at Annie to stop and pointed it out, wondering if she would chance the water rather than engage the dozen or so various sized monsters stumbling towards them at an alarming pace. She gazed at him for the span of milliseconds before following the trajectory of his shivering arm towards their only hope of escape. She nibbled on her lips as she would in human form if met with a dilemma she cannot handle or guess the end of, but both she and Armin were gamblers. She was willing to try it.

She nodded at him and held him him to her mouth, the lad holding on to her front teeth for the second time that day. As soon as he was latched on he felt her sprint towards the water and fall into the heart-stopping surge of wild water that splashed against her solid and muscular physique. He thought he felt his stomach fall away from him when he noted the sudden jerking sensations tearing at the pair, Annie groaning something incoherent and deep in her large throat. He wondered if the water was deeper than they expected.

_Oh god. Can't she swim in this...?_

His thoughts stopped then, her teeth coming together quickly. He removed his hand and yelped, but Annie's mouth was tilted forward enough to prevent him from slipping back into her esophagus. He felt his damaged frame rattle uncontrollably in fear for both himself and Annie's flight into the fast moving water, unsure of what was going on in the world beyond her tightly clenched jaws. He slithered forward and grasped her teeth in between the indent and gaps, hoping she wouldn't gnash them together and grind him up into a ruined pulp by sheer accident. He placed his legs under the tip of her tongue and shut his eye in prayer.

Her body proceeded to jump and shudder, scaring Armin nearly beyond his wit every single time without fail. He could not count the time he spent in her mouth but he knew it could not have been more than whole minutes at length, however each second felt like an impossible eternity crawling by at snail's pace. The reverberations of their bout with the elements and their fatigue hindered their progress but the tangible idea of a moment of calm was all the lure they needed in order to go on.

This whole ordeal was making Armin even sicker than before. He hadn't realized that he had bitten his own tongue until he felt the coating of metal slide down his gullet and cover his taste buds. His adrenaline pulsed hotly under his flushed skin, his eye sealed shut until this last bid for safety is over. It dragged on, Annie thrashing about outside and he holding on rather precariously inside.

_So close._

He then dimly noted Annie's jaws parting and her fingers enveloping him, but his mind was fear-drugged and too fargone in the moment to understand what it was that she was doing. All he knew then was the feeling of swift vertigo as he was lifted into the air and flicked into hard sediment, his olfactory sense overwhelmed by the pungent scent of river residue and Titan breath. He coughed into the damp soil, his empty stomach churning so badly he thought someone had stabbed him in the gut and twisted the weapon into him.

Outside, He heard squalling and hissing, reminding him of Annie's situation and prompting him to look over at the cave mouth. He crawled over and peered out, witnessing as Annie had stabbed her fingers into the cliff to hold on; her stout and yet lean body flattening itself against the ravine wall. She gritted her teeth and stared Armin in the face for no more seconds before she was seen breaking free of the Titan's nape in a flurry of steam and flying flesh. She visibly looked fearful but it seemed to compel her to place haste into her movements. She snapped the flesh connections to herself and began climbing up the Titan's hair in order to get to Armin, he in turn out-stretching his slimy hand. He had no way to dry it off but he knew he did not have the time to remedy that problem anyway.

Annie could get swept away if they weren't fast.

Through a storm of thundering water he called out, "Grab my hand!" and tried to reach down to her, her eyes bright and alive with the cacophony of chaos. She hurried her ascension, the Titan's dead body decaying all too fast for their comfort and its withering remains hot to Annie's boots. A foul cloud of heated air escaped the corpse with a sigh, but it did nothing to deter the warrior in her endeavor to get to Armin. She coughed and and raced up the scalp until she was perched across the Titan's forehead and strained herself to reach him, but it seemed her already short height was playing against her. A rather powerful current gripped the dead body and pulled, the Titan's hands lodged into the rocks retained their hold but it wouldn't last a another minute.

"Annie!"

Armin pushed himself further out the aperture, his fingers extending down to her in a last bid to free her of this situation. If she had been as tall as Ymir or Hanji, she could have grabbed on by now. She huffed against the rock wall and unveiled her concern for her life, her reddened eyes wide and her breath coming out fast and laboring. She was too tired to even jump for it. The distance and time she spent in her Titan form as well as the climb had severely weakened her. Armin cursed but it was lost in the drone of rushing water, his desperation climbing and his heart banging against his sternum.

This was Eren Jaeger getting eaten right in front of him all over again.

A tumble of rocks and debris ended up freeing one of the body's hands and yanked the rest of it free. Annie can only let out a single gasp just as the eroding corpse fell away beneath her, but she was thankfully grabbed by her only ally in the world right then. Armin's slippery hand had snaked down and grasped her own and refused to let go, but still she was in danger of being carried off and drowned. She was sliding right through his grip.

Just as she was about to fall away, he hooked his trembling fingers into hers, her nails biting deeply into his digits. Despite this, he began to pull himself backward as she tried to find some sort of leverage for her feet, but the rock face was every bit as slick as Armin's hand. She lifted her other arm and parted her lips, her exhaustion plain to see. Armin shifted his legs around in an attempt to find something to hook his toes into but that failed miserably. However, he did notice the slim nature of the cave entrance, which was indeed close enough in terms of width to allow him to anchor himself there. The idea formulating into pristine clarity, he began the impossible act of maneuvering his crippled form towards certain death.

Annie noticed that she was being lowered closer to the water's violent surface and shouted, "What are you-?" but Armin didn't seem to hear her. Beyond giving her an answer at this point he saved his energy for the next arduous part; moving forward and sucking in precious air between his blood-soaked teeth. His eyes slanted and blackness surrounding his vision, he inched ever closer to his goal and strained to sit up.

_Not now. Don't pass out now!_

In an awkward and hard-on-his-ribs position, one of his feet finally met the rim of the cave and his broken arm limply fingered its way to the other side. He held it there and pulled back, his waist bursting forth into a new attack on his conscience and his arm screaming of agony. Annie realized what he was doing and used her elevated arm to grab onto Armin's sleeve and heave against the vices of gravity. Baring her teeth as well, she once again made an attempt at pulling herself upward while groping around for a ledge. Their shared efforts was met with success when she latched on to sharp rock ledge and followed through with Armin's plan. Both he and Annie tilted towards the interior and her leg clumsily made it in. The rest naturally followed through.

Throwing themselves backward Armin finally let out a pent up scream and rolled over, his arms flying to his waist whether or not one of them was broken. Squeezing his eye shut he laid to one side of cavern and fought the tears clawing their way out, his body shuddering since all of his old wounds decided to reopen. It felt like someone flayed open his body and tore into him, his extremities burning and his sight all but failing him.

Annie nearby after regaining her breath turned to him, her pleading eyes now replaced by a more focused and concerned pair. She slid over and snatched the near-ruined satchel clipped to his back harness. She fumbled for any bandages but their stock was brutally slimmed down by this point in their journey. Spitting out curses in a furious jumble she managed to locate the thin roll of gauze and went to her companion's aid, hoping to never repeat this incident again.

* * *

The silence that followed after the treatment had made her wonder if Arlert had finally decided to die.

Annie made sure to check his vitals before declaring him barely alive and withdrawing into herself, her fingers cold and her body already losing the warmth it had received while she had been transformed. She had been uncharacteristically worried about the lad for a while now, her lingering doubts regarding his survival soaring from one hypothetical way to die to the next. It was bad enough that she had tried to wipe away the thickened residue of the Titan's saliva from Armin's feverish form while treating him; add to that his body choosing to shut down once but couldn't thanks to her interception. Altruism had never been her thing, but here she was, acting out in a way that may not be so different from Reiner.

_How hypocritical._

Tense and trying to unwind her muscles, the adrenaline having long since faded, she shuddered and let her dazed thoughts hover to places unknown. She never fully removed her eyes from the silent and unmoving Armin, a little apprehensive that if she did look away he would fade quietly into oblivion.

_Why do I care if he dies? He's not even beneficial to me when he's like this._

The cavern was brisk and chilly against her, but her hoody was dry and warm at least despite the grips of night time cold nipping at them both. She pondered on how get her prisoner to warm and attempted to make a fire. That plan had failed wonderfully due to the constant humidity and moisture clinging to the atmosphere like another freezing and wet body pressed against her own. They had nothing to burn anyway; all that they possessed on their person had been the now grimy pouch of medical supplies and their dirty clothes.

They both was still miraculously wearing their 3-DM harnesses but it had been largely forgotten until now. Annie felt silly for forgetting such a crucial piece of important soldier wear; Armin could have used his to hull Annie up had his arm been in better condition and if he hadn't already naturally thought of using terraincial leverage.

She gauged the extent of her injury she received when climbing in; she had cut her hand and shin while the boy had been helping her in but she was already healing. All that remained was this terrible and gnawing hunger and wretched thirst that had her nearly desperate for anything consumable. Her exhaustion kept her on the ground in a huddled crouch. Combined these factors made her an angry and irate person, shortening her fuse and effectively driving a wedge into her thinking.

It was best then she decided to just sleep some of these inconveniences off. Its not like she can figure anything out if she was this dead tired and starved.

* * *

Dreams plagued the pair, though neither were anything good or relaxing. Nightmares had them both stirring in the pre-dawn hours a long time after they had fallen asleep, their minds wracked with the images of people they knew and loved and lost. However, it was Annie who had awoken first as a result, the memory of her father leaving tear-tracks down her pallored cheeks. The dull pain of hunger reminded her of where she was, the remnants of her visions already fluttering away from the knotting feel of her gut.

Annie swiped away the all too familiar visitors of the night, her azure eyes arrested on the mouth of the cave. They needed to get out of here and eat somewhere relatively safe, but she suspected the Titans haven't completely given up on finding them. The recently abandoned buildings they have bypassed is _sure _to have something they can eat, but that meant crossing the tumultuous river and climbing the steep sides up to flat land again.

_Great fucking idea Armin fucking Arlert. Making me swim over here away from the town with the actual fucking supplies in it._

Anger was always the first and foremost reflexive way Annie can react in such situations. Coming here was the only way to survive against a Titan horde, although it was a great pain in the royal backside since it meant a hazardous trek back yonder. In a battle of food against rationality, it was food that won this time and she felt her anger start to slide to new levels of hate for the boy and his usually 'quick-witted' escape plans. If he wasn't already dying she would have already given him a piece of what she thought of this stupid game of theirs.

Annie knew any transformations meant attracting attention and she couldn't manage a decent one anyway because of her lack of energy; but if they don't hurry on before sunrise they'll be easy prey. They had to be able to get what they need and disappear. She would have to use her harness to climb up and hope to find a way across in calmer waters on that note. The plan involved leaving Armin alone for a prolonged period of time but that seemed unfavorable due to the nature of his extensive injuries. Its not like she had any other choice however; he couldn't be moved right now.

Sighing heavily, she began to fuss with her harness and removed the bands encircling her chest and back and left the straps around her waist and thighs alone. Annie then proceeded over to Armin who seemed to be resting in a daze on his back, his lips beaded with fresh blood. His fluttering eyelid and discolored cheeks informed Annie that he was having trouble staying asleep at all.

To say he looked very un-well was putting it mildly.

She needed his harness so she can try to climb out of here; the extra length was probably what was required in order to leave the cavern at all. With a tentative "Armin?" she stooped over his crumpled form and peered into his patchy face with no clear idea on what she should be feeling right now regarding his current predicament. Her previous frustrations with him had vanished upon seeing him this way.

Her voice had indeed stirred him to sluggish wakefulness. His bleary-eyed look gave him the odd looks and bearings of a beached fish that had wriggled out its last little bit of energy in a desperate bid to survive. With barely a nudge in movement his head tilted to her in acknowledgement.

"Are you sober enough to know what I'm saying?" She began in a flat but not unfeeling tone.

Armin blinked at her and nodded.

"How... are you holding up? Can you speak at all?"

His broken lip pinched together as if he was considering her question. Annie was starting to wonder if he didn't have the capability to hold a conversation anymore let alone understand her until he hoarsely replied, "...Can. No strength to speak long." His speech was however broken up in several puffing attempts to breathe. She concluded that it was better he didn't talk at all if she really needed him to live.

_I can't let you die yet Arlert._

"I need to go to the town across the river. They have what we need; food, water canteens, and medical items to procure. Hopefully there are some working pieces of maneuvering gear to find too. I need an extra harness to get there first and that means I have to move you just a bit. Can you do that?"

_Does he look like he can?_

Armin worried at his lower lip and shrugged; a kind of silent _I'll try _response.

He waited to move on her command, his thin shoulders suddenly tense as if braced for a beating. For some reason, Annie loathed the idea of even touching his frail frame and did not wish to lift his torso so she can reach for the hooking mechanisms. He seemed so sick and ailing that even touching him might bring him whole steps closer to death.

She knew it was a painful task for the boy; asking him to sit up was pushing it too far. His reddened teeth gritted together and hissed as she removed the Scouts' jacket overlapping his shirt and straps on his upper body. Annie helped him shrug out of his shoulder suspenders but that was a major chore that had to be tackled with a ginger touch. While working at it she was trying to fight off her own advent guilt. Armin sometimes winced and it made her gut sink like someone tied a considerable amount of weight to it and dropped it into the deepest body of water. She then berated herself for lending the soldier any sympathy for what he put her through and proceeded with her task.

When she got to his thighs they were both able to breathe more easily for only a minute. It dawned on Annie that she now had to undo the belts around his legs and it involved invading some personal space. Her bottom lip curled and the sapphire blue of her eyes as unfeeling as ever as she fought embarrassment and carefully moved her thin hands to the pair of tightly-bound leather straps resting parallel mid-thigh on his left leg. After unclipping the carabiner there she worked at the straps further down and wrinkled her nose at what she did next. She had to remove his foul-smelling boots that reeked faintly of his previous skirmish with the Beast Titan and more strongly of her Titan breath.

_This is disgusting._

This was a process she repeated for the other leg too, Armin trying once more to be cooperative but he only succeeded in making his side throb again. At his hiss she gave him a warning look which left him still immediately and without a grunt of complaint. Annie had finally managed to remove the gear largely except for what criss-crossed his waist.

She removed the waist cloth and realized the amount of dirt that was caking it; she mentally added a spare change of clothes to her list of rations to retrieve and tossed the grubby and torn fabric aside. Annie was a master at wearing the ultimate poker-face but this was pushing her control on her emotions a little too far. Under better circumstances prior to her battle in Stohess she would have done this with no problem but when she had emerged from her crystal that seemed to have changed. Her feelings and mindset were bleeding out more often and it was driving her nail-bitingly crazy.

Armin undid the belt at the front easily enough but getting out of it completely will be a hassle that he would have to grit his teeth and bear. Annie (who tried ignore the wet moan that escaped him when another migraine hit him) started to loosen the metal sheet on his injured side. A calloused hand feebly went to the hip-hugging plate and met her own; the touch ending up with it covering her hand as if to stop. He tried to keep the honest burn of shame from his cerulean stare as he wiggled his digits past her own and undid the fastening mechanism with clumsier fingers. Annie had to withdraw her own limb with haste and tried not to think of it. When she looked up at him she had to keep the ever so _slight _giggle out of her throat.

Armin's round face had even more color in then that one time he had been caught staring at a girl's breasts back in training; a time where she couldn't figure out if that had been an accident or not. If it hadn't been for the situation they were in, the abashed expression he was wearing would have been considered hilarious.

He managed to undo the matching plate on the other side but the twisting of his lower trunk had him turning red again for a different reason. Annie had to finish what the boy started then, removing his sweaty and shaking hand from his abdomen and working the belts around the problem area up and over his head. The entire gear being finally all off left Armin to lean against the clammy wall and sigh with relief. The constricting harnesses had left new bruises under his ragged clothes all over his body.

Annie began to fuss with the hooks and clips and various buckles. She had to be inventive with it and its overall functionality so she can climb the ridge outside. The task took several minutes to complete but she was satisfied with the end result. She tested it by pulling at all the links and nodding before walking over to the entrance and glancing around the brim. Eyeing any possible footholds and gauging the distance she had to cross, she was able to project a path with a little imagination and some serious scrutiny aimed towards some outcroppings that appeared to have jutted from the rock face. It was awfully convenient and Annie briefly wondered if this cave has been used before by any of the townspeople that lived nearby.

_A great hiding spot for certain illegal activity._

She turned to Armin, her mouth set in a firm line that was rather contradictory to how she actually felt about doing what she planned to. She then lowly stated, "I'll be leaving now but I'll be back soon."

Armin blinked at her and worked his jaw as if in question of how she was going to pull this off. She merely regarded him with her aura of cool calculation (which was feigned for once) and said, "I better not return to find you dead Arlert. That will hurt not only me but some of your pathetic friends from the scouts."

_What am I saying? I only mean that in a way his death would be purely an inconvenience, not anything more. Besides, its not like he'll see them again._

_Why am I debating this? Focus._

Annie leaned out of the aperture and stared overhead, spinning one of the harnesses like a lasso and tossing it upward. Luckily for her on the first attempt it hooked and gave no sign of slipping. Glad for their slight change in luck, she turned to glance at Armin just once more. His eye beheld concern and protest but he had nary the energy to say much in his situation. His wise mind had already surmised that this was a required evil they must undertake if the pair ever hoped to survive the destruction of mankind.

She had to admit, for a prisoner his concern was endearing in a way but it was unwarranted. She merely placed his sentiment to the back of her mind and began the dangerous climb up toward the hell that awaited on the flat lands above.

* * *

Armin knew her well enough by now to guess how she thinks most of the time.

But not always was this the case.

He knew she was out of her own volition, trying to make this whole stupid journey to Maria's outermost wall. It involved running some couple hundred miles away however, through lands both high and low _teeming _with possibly thousands of gluttonous mouths to bypass. The hazards did not stop there; there was the odds of dying because of the most basic elements of nature to consider like hunger, thirst and weather playing against them. There was also the problem of scaling the next wall to take into the equation and the probability of meeting something even more unpleasant than abnormal Titans. What could make this whole ordeal worse was the off-chance that the walls could collapse _entirely _and release the horrors inside but that seemed a little preposterous to happen unless Eren was already dead. It made going to Annie's mysterious home seem so out of the way and frivolous.

_Then again, maybe it isn't her home she's running too, but somewhere else entirely and for another reason... But why?_

_And where...?_

Armin heaved another sigh; he thought he had her just about correctly pegged the previous day as they had been leaving Sina's boundaries. He figured she would have to go to either meet the Ape Titan or make one more attempt at heading to her birthplace; or possibly chance going into the interior to find Eren but his inquiring to her was met with no positive response or conclusion. She had once again become the enigmatic girl he had met long ago, but not quite the same warrior or person she had once been. Annie Leonhardt was always so _painfully _intelligent that it made Armin shudder at the thought. He sometimes forgot how he wasn't the only one who thought with his head and not with willpower or heart like everyone else he had come across.

She was fighting for something else now.

_But for what and why bring me along? Is it really for this wager of ours? I get the feeling its more than that._

He can safely ascertain that she was using him to an extent. Maybe this was why she was bringing him along other than prove a point to him regarding their bet. She was using him for her own selfish needs and it seemed to be reasonably sound but Annie was a complicated person by nature. It just so happened that she was also very emotional when push came to shove and she had a talent for covering it up. Remembering the gaze she gave him when her decaying Titan form was falling away from beneath her feet, it had proven that much was true.

_But what was the point in knowing that again? Did it have something to do with her being a good person...?_

Armin realized that he was thinking too much and he was meeting no answers to the questions he asked. He wished that he could shake off the pulsing that made his noggin swim like it was dipped in molasses but he did not have the appropriate medical supplies to do anything about it. When he was hungry enough to eat like Sasha after a hard day's work thinking was out of the question and that either started his headaches or made them worse. The ennui of his condition was making him lose his train of thought and it worked at his nerves like Eren's constant complaining whenever Jean does something that annoys the ill-tempered shifter.

He instead tried to distract himself by taking his dirty Scouts uniform jacket lying almost forlorn next to him and tossing it over his shoulder. Slowly he worked it around his back while trying not to aggravate his wound on his side but that was impossible avoid. He flinched and grunted a couple of times but he was able to get one of the sleeves around to his front again and tried to tie them together in a make-shift sling. His left arm now suspended and held abreast he sat against the wall and closed his remaining eye and tried to leash rampant his thoughts.

That's when he groaned.

_Dammit. I can't hardly move but now I __**really**__ have to get up._

_When was the last time I had the chance to piss?_


	4. The Next Hurdle

_I read manga chapter 59 lately._

_Let's say this takes place sometime around then but since its a divergent story the overall flow has changed. It is a survival story that will hopefully not bore you. Any complaints or ideas or a desire to see something that isn't out of character you let me know in a review._

_On with the story friends. :)_

* * *

Annie had damn near killed herself once already during the climb in the predawn morning. It nearly happened again not long after she set out and started to walk alongside the river in order to find a bridge across. It was bad enough that she could not transform without there being repurcussions that involved her being immobilized afterward. Being an energy savvy shifter still had its limits since she had no nurishment in the last few days. On top of that Annie was never a morning person anyway; her mind was constantly drugged with a lingering drowsiness and her body shivered in the early cold. One could say she was vulnerable at this time of day.

On another hand, an out of the blue attack was sure to wake her up.

7-meter Titans may not be the smallest, but they can be fast on their feet and hide almost as well as their 3-meter counterparts. It had managed to conceal itself relatively well until Annie chose at that time to pass by and look the other way. She had no means of combating the beast except to manage a partial transformation but that would leave her too dehydrated to attempt another one if there was a greater threat. Outrunning it was suicide but tricking it wasn't entirely out of the question. It was all she can do until she can procure the supplies.

_Fucking Titans. Its a no-brainer why Jaeger wants to kill every single last one of them. Dunno what I despise more: Reiner's jokes, Armin's smartass ways, that emotionless bitch Mikasa or those stupid Titans._

Annie managed to keep a decent lead but the scowling pursuer was practicely leaping over the distance seperating them. She had to glance back once to guage the Titan's speed but felt her blood grow cold at both his pace and proximity. She had caught the glint of his teeth with horrid clarity. They were smaller for most Titan norm but there was twice as many in his mouth, which possesed the elasticity of rubber. The mandibles on the creature was unhinged like a snake's; it was almost comical but for understandable reasons Annie found nothing about this funny. He was gaining and he was only a few horse-lengths behind, lashing out his jaws each step.

Relocating her eyes on her path she noted the bank of trees bordering the river and the drop-off next to them. An idea swam into mind and she was twirling her harness next in a one-chance bid up towards the thickest of branches. A split second later she was up and over and gone before the Titan even knew where she was leading it to. Climbing into the air a stomach-flipping _snap_ sounded where her torso had been and a earth shaking _crunch_ followed. It announced the Titan's descent onto the ground and he was sliding the rest of way towards his death over the ledge. The dim-witted brute was devoured by the whipping rapids below with a merciless abandon that Annie was somewhat thankful for.

Hanging loosely some yards off the ground, she let out a collective sigh and recollected her common sense before trying to lower herself. She was doing well until another less threatening _crack _resounded and she was on her feet far more quickly than anticipated. Annie buckled over and groaned as the limb toppled and smashed to splinters on and around her. Blinking away stars she mumbled an expletive, taking in what's around her. She realized grimly that she had escaped only because she had snagged a dead branch that was doomed to break if it had to support any large weight greater than its own.

It was a wonder it held her at all.

Shaking off her unease she was successful in finding the bridge and the town it lead too several meters from where the Titan fell; but it seemed her luck had grown short after her run-in with the 7-meter. The bridge was broken beyond repair but it held no obvious signs of rot or weathering. If anything, the passage had been well maintained until the evacuation. Annie presumed a Titan must have fell on it or tried to step across but the wood can never hope to hold anything larger than a 5 meter or more.

_Just my luck._

She weighed her options and shook her head. If she was really desperate and wished to hurry along she would have had to jump it and pray the harness did what it did with her earlier encounter, but that option seemed liable to fail. The tool was frayed and worn from her improper use of it; climbing outcroppings and latching onto trees had added to its wear and it was never constructed for this kind of abuse. Armin had almost worn it down alone. She could switch belts but it would take too long to do so and the sun was speeding up its ascent. Daylight was being burned up every second and the longer Armin was left alone further increased the odds of his withering and dying.

Annie frowned at the dilemma, but she knew better than to try to tempt fate again after her recent brush with death in the past days. There was no way in hell that she could come up lucky after all this. She peeled herself from the site and walked the area, trying to reel in ideas and hope to find something she can use to help her across. She added as an after-thought that this could be a one-time obstacle; given that there is maneuvering gear hidden in one of the houses.

Or stuck to a corpse.

Whatever the case, the gear would be indispensible in their journey south, and even possessing a functioning set of one or even two would be a fantastic asset. Using harnesses and knives can never suffice in a land teeming with over-sized threats and possibilities. Gathering food and water flasks seemed so worthless in terms of value in comparison.

Annie had to stop her thoughts there; she had noted the road that had led formally away from the village had ominous and old stains in the dirt. Bending over, she traced her fingertips over the path gingerly, ghosting over the trodden area with careful reflection. She quickly surmised that the rust color plastered to the soil was old blood; likely originated from an injured townie trying to escape the hell that the land has become. If anything, the conclusion was more than probable and it led her to the idea that the person may have died not long after.

Huffing, Annie rose to her feet and followed the ruts of the wagons and the prints of the denizenry in an attempt to find anything that could guide her towards a useful alternative to her situation. This time however, she was more than cautious of the surrounding verdure and brush and the fact that the trees may conceal yet another unwanted pair of frothing jaws and teeth. Its not like she had any means to defend herself but she needed the split-second headstart if she was in trouble.

She stayed within sight of the forlorn settlement but it was a fairly long walk away from the bridge before she decided she should give up. She had found no bodies or horse-drawn vehicles with precious and useful items anywhere close by. Annie let her normally well-composed poker face disappear into a sigh of resignation and frustration as she retraced her steps back towards the bridge. She was going to have to be smart and use the woods around the area if she ever hoped to get across. Maybe a toppled tree that could be rolled to the area can help close the gap.

_Come to think of it, I could use the fallen trees the Titan fell on. Rolling them to the bridge and fastening it though..._

It was the only idea she had to go with. Annie moved along towards the area where she dropped the drooling menace and let her mind wonder, her thoughts hovering over to what a certain soldier may be doing to bide his time before she returned.

* * *

Armin was beyond bored.

He knew being abandoned in the battlefield was a neccessary evil but he had never weighed that he would be caught up in this kind of scenario. Armin anticipated that one day in this Titan-infested world ever since he joined the scouts that he would end up stranded somewhere beyond the protection of the walls, but this was just downright unbearable. To not only be held as captive by a Titan-shifting master but to not have any provisions or means of communication as well is just adding to his patience. Ever since Eren's first transformations, he should have weighed in the possibility of being captured by an intelligent menace like the collosal or armored but he hadn't thought nothing of it.

_Nothing is impossible after all._

Internal rants aside, Armin had tried in Annie's absence to sleep off the lull but his wounds had woke him each time he laid on a tender or sore spot. He rolled onto his arm once as it is and he was in wretched agony even hours afterward. He gave up on rest and tried to entertain himself with puzzle games he had come up with by scribbling into the dirt instead, but it was just not as fun without his fellow trainees leaning over past his shoulders trying to guess what is it that he had concocted. It was then Armin gave up the games in favor of picking at his grimy nails in a miserable attempt to clean himself up. Thinking of his only friends in the world was making his heart ache like the rest of him.

Staring absently at his short and cracked nails, he tried to shake off the somber sensations that dragged at the little bit of clarity in his mind. His twisting guts knotted up with hunger and the saddening realization that he was alone in this unforgiving place. Annie was no friend of his; she was using him for her own benefit. His comrades were far enough away to be beyond all hope of returning to alive and are god-forbid dead and gone. He felt his slight strength with each passing day flicker in and out of existence as if threatening to finish him. Despite this, a weaker, smaller part of him hoped the unfeeling void would just hurry up and consume him in its spectral entirety.

It was a morbid thought.

The continuous drone of the churning rapids outside palpably shook the rock-face and filled his bones with its tremulous revebrations. It was in a mind-numbing way an earthly reminder that he was still alive and he has at this point somewhat anchored his consciousness to its quaking rumble. It had succeeded in keeping him awake so far; perhaps it can continue to do so until Annie returns.

_Annie._

The girl was a green one he had to admit; she was not a true liar at heart but she had never been really honest. She was dangerous and hard to understand at times; and in an intrusive way that Armin had to berate himself for adding, she was beautiful to look at. Annie is as emotional as she is apathetic and skilled to boot.

Armin thought for sure she would go after Eren while the inner walls were in such a state of disquiet, but Annie had in fact done something else almost entirely unexpected. She had proceeded to flee the scene while bringing a weakling like him along for the ride. If she had something to gain out of this he had to admit that he hadn't the slightest idea what. She was someone who was a walking mass of opposites and it was what drew the attention to herself that she never wanted.

He shook his head. He was thinking too much again and it was bringing another migraine with it. Armin had begun to fidget but stopped himself just as he had started; his grandfather had told him it was a bad habit. He had to do something with himself in this state of lazy enervation, otherwise he would go crazy.

Slowly, he rose grudgingly to his shaking feet and walked around the tiny cavern and relieved himself out its aperture. After which, he proceeded to pace around as his mind went once again into that same buzzing trance that normally took over whenever he had too much time to himself. His eye took on a hazy and unseeing shimmer, his working arm rising steadily to his chin.

A part of him had hardened into an numb acceptance of his war-torn reality, but his youth continued to yank the strings tied to his suffocating heart. His sentiment had placed itself into a mixed and confusing form of concern for the female warrior slash Titan shifter. His worry though was not needed this he knew; Annie was almost every bit as intelligent as himself and he had to tell himself this many times in the past few days. His pacing picked up as he tried to anticipate future events in the long run and the rhyme and reason of Annie's actions. His fasting had done nothing good for his thinking however; his nerves were raw and rattled and his temperment was shorter and more violent than he had expected.

He closed his eye and felt himself stagger; he nearly fainted again. His clammy hand had gone to his dribbling forehead and his legs almost seemed to have vanished beneath him. His breath was short and stale and his heart's usual rythem fluttered. All these symptoms announced was that he needed to sit again.

Flattening himself against the cool cave wall he felt the sweat on his back start to disappear, his mind struggling to grasp sobriety. His pain had persisted ever since his duel with the Beast Titan and it has done nothing but hinder him. His docile nature had cracked enough to let his anger at his impending helplessness at the whole ordeal shine through wonderously. His teeth gnashed as another throb radiated from his waist.

_Gods be damned. I hate being a burden even to people like Annie. I wish she left me for dead. Why was I born to be so stupidly weak and fragile?_

On the bright side, his delicate frame had constituted for the regular check-ups from the infamous Dr. Jaeger, which in turn led him to meet his life-time friend Eren and eventually Mikasa. That was where all the perks had ended though; his 'body was as dainty as a dandelion and as easily crushed as a shell-less insect'; something his past drill instructor Shadis had roared at him when he started as a trainee. It was silly to chastise himself for something he could not help, but he did anyway. Being raised in Shiganshina had made him strong enough to survive the next harrowing years as a homeless refugee and eventually a trainee in Rose's confines at least, but this new strength wasn't enough.

Armin felt his breath catch in his throat at the mention of his former home. His eye popped open at the the idea dawning on him.

_Shiganshina. Wait a tic; that couldn't be-?_

The inner ramblings had brought the boy to the very conclusion he had hoped to reach. The thought had escaped him for the time spent after Annie's freedom and sweeping him up into her arms onto this ridiculous adventure; but here it was, as glaring to him as a 15-meter standing before him in the noon sun.

_We are following the river not just because it is an intelligent means of survival; it's really because it is the most sure-fire way of getting to Shiganshina! We're going there for a reason; probably to see what's in Eren's basement._

Technically, a shifter did not need a huge bronze key like Eren's if they needed entry inside; all they really required was the use of their sheer strength to wrench the door open if they were seriously careful. Annie easily had the most nimble and most articulate digits between her and her fellow shifters, so getting a huge door like that open should not be any harder than one would think. Years of weathering in an abandoned town like that could mean the door was possibly weak enough to barge into.

_Maybe this is why she needs me-? To help her find Eren's house..._

It made gruesome sense; it was most likely the _only _reasons she had struggled to keep him alive so far.

Armin had to admit; Annie was thinking leaps and bounds ahead this time around. It was intimidating in a sense. Truth be told, he somewhat looked forward to the idea of getting to see what Mr. Jaeger felt was so precious that he had to conceal for either deluded or righteous reasons, although the populace that was humanity desperately needed said information. To actually get there and obtain something so powerful and delicate gave the boy a misplaced thrill that reinvigorated him for only a second before his condition left him mollified.

_Its pretty dumb in a way, but the idea of being the first there... I wonder if Dr. Jaeger would mind if I saw it?_

_...I don't think he would care much if it was me. At this point somebody needs to get to it first before our enemies do. At least depending on the information inside someone like me can smartly use it to save us all from the horrifying outcome of this fight. _

_Its either that or the other horrifying alternative..._

Armin felt his brow knit as his thoughts fell onto his nearly-forgotten interloper of a companion. His earlier excitement melted away as he worried at his lower lip.

_Depending on what's inside... Is it possible that an experienced master like Annie could use that kind of information to her advantage? Or am I assuming too much?_

He gulped, his throat suddenly tight and his heart falling into his guts. The method to the madness of Annie's past actions were making the boy shiver involuntarily. He never wanted to play accomplice to what unmentionable horrors were waiting to take place.

_This will become a spectacular disaster if she uses that in a way that it is purely selfishness on her part. I don't think she would personally do it, but one never knows the outcome of circumstantial conjecture. Maybe she might hand that information to whoever's doing this. Our fight with the Titans will be viewed, if we are not extinct in the years to come, as a divine tragedy no matter how you look at it._

Its too bad the gods have already laughed it up.

* * *

Annie felt childishly pleased with herself.

Thanks to what her rigorous training had imparted to her regarding the necessities of survival, she finally able to move on. She looked over her handiwork from the bridge's entry, trying to detect any faults with her make-shift repair. As far as she can see, it seemed to be sound and the new bridge was indeed usable. It had taken a broken tree the Titan had snapped at its base when it had tripped earlier to do the job, but hell it worked. Rolling it and pushing it into position was the hardest and most time-consuming part but that was now literally-speaking water under the bridge.

Annie had walked on and off of it a few times already, using the branches to latch onto the splintered segments of the wood as false hooks. Nodding in confirmation of the safety measures of her work, she began the treacherous walk across the chasm of ripping wild water. The tree threatened a roll but the sap-sticky and scented branches can at least prove to be a means of saving her life if such a thing happened. Her footing was sure and precise as a cat's, her sense of balance guiding her the rest of the way across without so much as another creak.

Upon touching ground on the other side, she felt her pent-up breath escape her. Now she can move on to the next phase of their trip without wasting much more time. She was still watching for any recent signs of Titan activity but there was none that she could see. All the smaller buildings and stone roads had impressive craters in them but it must have occurred when the attack happened or some passing Titan decided to look around. In a sense, nothing was truly amiss.

Annie guardedly traipsed across the trodden-on path into the town, her eyes wider than saucers as she weighed the damage and sights. There was disgustingly enough some eaten corpses and pieces of them lying haphazardly across the vicinity but they were undoubtedly a couple of days old. The stench told her that. Annie spotted some passing crows and feral pets running in and out of sight making a meal of the mess. It was a scene she had witnessed in Trost's aftermath not long before. She watched as a medium-sized dog picked at a certain body with a wolf-like hunger that made her own gut squirm like it was crawling with parasites. The mutt had eyed her for only a flickering second before it vanished. The atmosphere here was tainted with sickness that could double over anyone except for veteran soldiers and shifters like herself. The scent of decay was a thick veil that had engulfed the town, a smog-like barrier to ward off the mortal and unwary.

_Armin was right about mankind's fall; and to think this happened so far into walls as Rose's inner sanctum. I know I shouldn't care but..._

_I do._

Her battle with Eren in Stohess should have hardened her, but she had in fact become the opposite deep within her core. She could never really tell herself that she was an emotionless war automaton, but her job required a professional killer with no sense of humanity that she could never amount to be. She couldn't beat a novice like Eren because of her fear, and she couldn't achieve her goal due to her irresolute nature. On top of that she failed to kill Armin Arlert out of respect or some other human nonsense. She was not the warrior she had tried to amount to. Having to look at this destruction was making her more than distressed even though it had been expected to happen.

Annie tried to quell the ever mounting self-loathing but it was futile. Although she had almost next-to-nothing to do with recent events save for a couple of occasions long past, she still felt like she was utterly at fault. Thinking too much of the mission she had abandoned was making her ill, but she could not help the remorse she had tried to alienate many times before.

She was human too, wasn't she?

As Annie began her long and tedious search of the houses, she tried as the daylight burned overhead to ignore the empathetic sensations that clung to her heart. The job at hand was steadily removing the guilt but she knew she would have to grit her teeth and bear it the rest of the way. When she had managed to locate the water canisters the sorrow began to throb away like a progressively aging wound. She had been trained for a task that involved no human hospitality but she had failed at that when she affiliated herself with people like Mina and Eren as he attempted to practice with her. A weakness of this caliber had allowed for her to be caught by Armin in the end.

_Its way too late for this. I need to concentrate on getting to Shiganshina._

She continued to strain her ears to pick up on the earth-rumbling noise that a Titan's steps normally creates and kept flickering her eyes onto both the enemies' movements and her own ongoing search. She found the Titans but they were ghosting the furthest outskirts of the opposite side of the town; recognizable figures that were responsible for chasing her the other day. However, the Titans that stood above 10-meters or more were the only ones she could see; she was not so sure of the current location of any of the other smaller creatures.

Annie was in luck when she moved into the next house: she was nearly smiling when she found a full set of arrows, bow, and a quiver with the bundle. The home may have belonged to a hunter who was negligent enough to leave such a viable weapon behind. It was either that or he favored a stronger tool since there was a few spaces where hunting equipment should have been placed.

_Not that I'm complaining._

After taking that, she located a traveling burlap sack in the kitchen with food stuffs carelessly (or hastily she was pretty sure) tossed inside; confirming the haste of the former residents. It was likely the hunter had attempted to take the sack with him but gave up on it in a last bid to escape. She had attached the water flasks to her hips and rummaged through the kitchen for anything else portable. She was almost humming because of her find.

Smelling the items and deteriorating food in the kitchen made her stomach holler at her to eat anything within sight, but she ignored the it largely. She only allowed herself to an a apple in a fruit bowl close by in order to combat the mind-numbing pangs of her gut, all the better so she may focus. She glided over to the sink and inspected the plebeian water pump that was used as a faucet. She placed the flasks on the counter and ran her fingers along the wooden length before putting them at rest on the handle and tried to make the lever budge. Unfortunately, it exhibited no profound movement. She had to work the pump for a small span of minutes before something dribbled from the spicket.

Glad for some more progress, she managed to get a trickling stream going and refreshed herself in the sink before going on to consume what she could have swore was quarts of precious liquid. The water gave her the hydration she desperately needed after her awakening days ago. She was surprised she had even managed to last this long without it; it was a necessity for Titan shifters since their bodies spend so much energy and water in their bodies just by holding the transformation. Trying to go without it would be costly.

After finding the last of their provisions (including a spare change of clothes for Armin), she threw the sack over her shoulder and inched herself to the door, being careful to search the vicinity for the Titans. She continued to observe the larger beasts in the background while searching dedicatedly for the smaller variant. None were found immediately, so she slipped right out the door and headed towards the path leading back to the bridge. Walking with a bulky bag and kitchen utensils as weapons was not an intelligent way to handle their situation, but Annie knew they did not have a choice in the matter. It is a temporary solution they would have to make do.

She still hasn't located any 3-DM gear. This fact irked her but this terraced town seemed to be a rural habitation that did not need to employ the use of soldiers and protection considering where it was in Humanity's territory. It had been far enough away be believed to be safe from a Titan invasion, and the buildings were too small to effectively use the gear in anyhow. Its isolated placement affirmed that it may have been a hunting/gathering community like Sasha's home town; the arrows were proof enough. Annie would have to make due with items she found here and bring them to Armin so they can properly recuperate.

All she could do now is hope that her trek back would be easy.

The sun was sinking by the time Annie finally managed to make it back.

* * *

When she returned during that late evening hour, she could have swore that the crumpled piled of clothes in the nearby corner was nothing but a long-dead corpse. She felt silly for her concern at first, but that feeling was kicked in favor of sudden panic driving her nerves into overdrive. She dropped her baggage and threw herself into that corner, stooping over to see what she dreaded was true. She was fully able to take that surprise attack she got from the pair of 5-meters on her way back, but not the shock of what was going on in her head.

Armin was facing away from the entrance, laying on his good arm and his mouth part-way open. The bandage looped around his head was askew and his skin was chilled to the touch, not to mention pale. His brow was an odd mixture of pained frowning and total relaxation. What left Annie to assume the worst was the fact that his chest wasn't even _moving. _If he was really dead, then she lost her only way back into her home-town without there being trouble.

Mina's death had been hard enough.

She started with hesitation, her voice low. "...Armin?"

Resting her hand on his thin shoulder, she watched for any animation to take place on his facade, but none were witnessed. Upon seeing no response, she found herself shaking him slightly next.

"Armin! Get up!"

Her voice started to increase in volume, her already frayed nerves turning icy. Annie's grip tightened on the lad's sore shoulder. As soon as she ground out the next call for him to wake, he did more than stir.

He jolted awake so fast that Annie didn't have any time to move away from his oncoming cranium. The resonating _clonk _jumped across the cave audibly. Annie fell backwards on her rump and yelped, "_Ouch!_" in perfect unison with the boy, trying to blink away the flashes dancing in front of their eyes. Suddenly, another similar noise rose up from somewhere beyond Annie's vision and a groan was heard afterward. Annie looked up past her fringe to take in Armin's dazed expression, his eye unseeing and his hand raised to his skull was lost amidst the growing carmine and dirty blond hair.

He looked absolutely senseless.

_Did he hit his head __**again **__after he slammed into me? ...At least he's alive, but he's bleeding again. _

The two were rubbing their heads for a full minute before Annie recovered first. She went to move from her sitting position and walked over to where she had last deposited their provisions. She took out the medical supply kit she has been fortunate enough to find and went over to patch up the disoriented boy. It worried her to see that he did not react to her touch when she removed the patch covering his ruined eye and head. However, to say that she felt dizzily glad to see him awake (to an extent) and breathing was an understatement. Her mind sent curses at him for feigning infinite sleep so realistically before letting a calmer set of thoughts thread their way into being.

Funnily enough, she found herself asking unimportant questions after the mild scare, but she still could not shake the worry from her nerves from Armin's lack of response. His glazed eye seemed to have belonged to a dead man for all the visual good it was doing for him. Annie still worked to aid in his recovery despite his low chance of survival, fighting her memories of their training when Armin was sent to the infirmary for many various reasons.

She hoped he would make it to Shiganshina.

* * *

A pair of strong hands glided effortlessly in and around his blurry sight, his head gently rocked forward and back each crawling minute and motion. Wrapping a white tendril endlessly around his scalp, he thought he recognized this bleary moment from a past he had long put behind him, where some relationships were still unsullied by blood and betrayal. It was something that could never be forgotten, due to the gritty nature of a life and death situation that always vividly imprint itself into one's memory without fail.

Except for the grim darkness clouding his eyes, Armin honestly believed he was sitting in front of a worried Reiner, whose hands where known to be strong enough to break a bull's neck without effort. Strangely the touch was delicate and sure, his corded arms working around the injury with a care only a friend could have. For some silly and unreasonable minute, Armin didn't care if he was the Armored Titan; all he knew was that the man who sat behind him was someone kind enough to put forward his concern for the welfare of others. He was someone who was the most trusted and loyal; the big brother many never knew the experience of having. Reiner Braun was a soldier with an ulterior motive, but his feelings of camaraderie were genuine and true.

In a bizarre twist of fate, he was friend and enemy to all. To think that the man was just barely any older than he and Eren if only by a couple of years. It would mean that he was a child himself when he leveled Maria's lands in the wake of the Titan invasion. Why would mankind's enemy be so frustratingly gentle?

He helped Eren pass and encouraged Armin to train harder for the trials ahead. When Trost happened, he may have been responsible for it alongside Bertholdt, but he really meant to keep his friends alive. He tried to enlighten the cruel animosity of the world with a crude humor that stemmed from his strength. He applied care to the injury of his allies and his smiles may not be as contagious as Connie's but they possessed a more inspiring air.

Armin felt safe; Reiner had no true reason to kill him anyway.

The indistinct hands began to tighten a knot and overlapped in and under the patchwork, indicating an end to the application. Next, they went to his waist as if to inspect something else that needed attention. The old bandages were lightly cut away and some disinfecting aid was applied.

The pain that resurfaced was enough to make Armin heave.

It shocked him to near external awareness but his mushy mind was slipping more like a wasted drunkard's reality. Shapes were only known by brightness and color rather than detailed and recognizable contours. The only thing that was clear was the needle-sharp agony that stung his side and the hands working to cover the red tinting the corner of his pathetic sight. A new wrapping process made itself known before long and it was a welcome relief to the pain that continued to tear into his tired nerves.

_"Tomorrow will be fine."_

He imagined a deep but reassuring voice from years past say. It carried confidence and encouragement with it and it seemed to blanket any and all obstacle. He opened his eye and stared into a dark but hard floor, his vision trying hard to right itself.

_To...tomorrow...?_

Words bubbled from an place Armin could not identify, their meaning holding no value initially. As the hands worked themselves over and around his head and trunk, his eye began to make sense of what was going on around him. He lifted his head a little and blinked, watching the gauze and what it was trying to cover for only a few seconds before losing interest.

He squinted a bit; he noticed the arms were thinner than originally perceived. Was it not his teammate that was tending to his wounds? Who did these hands belong too?

_A girl?_

The fluttering thud of his heart became audible, its meager struggle to support him suddenly beginning to make itself known. Every other sound that had not been in his head before had beheld no distinction or familiarity, but now that muggy sensation was starting to clear up. He can identify the rumble of the river outside and the place he currently sat in. He took in a breath and craned his skull back, the ceiling more visual but the lines and cracks still invisible to him. Reality became more stable and his world stopped spinning and trembling.

Armin was now capable of realizing that he was alive and conscience, but he momentarily forgot about the one who was dressing his wounds. His every other remembrance of holding a friendship with one of humanity's enemies had started to sour and dry as sobriety returned and he damned himself for nearly letting death have its way him when he had been asleep. He leaned back, expecting to prop himself onto his hands and forgetting that he had a broken arm to deal with and it could not hope to hold him up. What he neglected to keep in mind until it was too late was that there was a person sitting right behind him.

A really small, _feminine _ and _dreadfully_ familiar person.

It was _definitely _a girl.

* * *

Well... Fuck.

Of all things that could wake him up back to the horrors of this life it had to be _Annie _of all people. If it wasn't for the unbelievable amount of pain jumping up his arm right now he would have blamed his blushing on his awkward stupidity. He felt like he was dead less than a few minutes ago, but now he was _fully _cognizant of what was going on now.

He was lying on Annie Leonhardt's lap.

For the moment, her deadpan expression was still glued furiously to her face but Armin wondered how long it will take before that was wiped clean in favor of a more suitable and unwanted reaction. He could tell that she was trying her utmost to keep her calm gaze from faltering. Since he was just waking from a near-death experience, he might as well play this by ear and see how it goes.

"...Annie?"

"-Armin, what are you doing?"

He paused. Armin felt his innards start to twist but Annie had cut across his contorted thinking with an expected response.

"You better be feeling like shit right now, otherwise I'll be putting you back to sleep," the vehemence in her monotone rivaled Mikasa's unbridled fury she normally aimed towards the mention of their lovable captain Levi.

He knew he would illicit a threat from her but it still chilled Armin to the bitter marrow in his bones.

_I can't say that I'm lying about feeling like shit at least. But seriously she and Mikasa are both terrifying. _

"Annie," he began again. "I thought... You were..."

Her frosty eyes released some of that seering anger as her thin mouth began to work itself against her clenched mandible, "I came back and finished redressing your wounds. Can you get off now or do I have to do that myself?"

He moved.

He managed to sit himself up but the act was wobbly and left him light-headed. He had to rest the majority of his weight on one arm and tried to correct his vision as it danced precariously between blackness and what was in front of him. His weariness was still dragging him down considerably and he did not have a lot of energy, so he swooned at that second.

Just as he tilted backwards, Annie caught him and muttered, "I said get off. I know I said you had guts, but I meant it when I said you were weak too."

_I am tired of the half-assed comments I get from everybody. _

Armin's brow furrowed and his lower lip jutted out more as he returned in kind, "You are strong, but you lack resolve."

Annie's eyes narrowed, although Armin did not see it.

She leaned Armin against the wall behind her and went to make them their dinner, her face plastering on that typical bored expression she favored. She pulled out a few logs and sat by the entrance, trying to light a fire. He decided to watch her for a few minutes before losing interest and turning to size up their inventory. He felt his dread return when he saw no maneuvering gear, but that changed to intrigue when he eyed the bow and quiver.

"...No luck?"

"In what?" She snapped, clearly still abashed by his earlier accident.

Armin took in a slow breath, "In finding any gear."

Annie sat straighter in her seat in front of the puny flame she had managed to create, her face still holding that stubborn blankness. "No, but the bow will help I would think. The town was a hunting-dependent community."

Armin nodded to that, reminded briefly of Sasha and her understanding of such a way of life.

After that, Armin shut his eye again and tried to focus on chasing off the lingering head-ache. He must have making some weird faces without realizing it because Annie had come over to inspect him once. She offered a mediocre and inexpensive pain killer that was clearly bartered from a faraway place that would have to suffice until their food was ready.

After which, quiet had become a frequent companion between them, its hush impenetrable. Armin struggled to keep himself awake, wise to the risk of falling asleep again while Annie was keeping to herself, cooking the small portions of food she had gathered. The night hurried its arrival outside, but the day held persistently.

Their dinner was done by the time twilight was at its highest point. It may have sounded rude in the fact that meant he would have to watch her eat first, but Armin insisted on Annie to dine before he. Annie protested and then threatened to shove it done his throat but he was the winner in that fight; he needed her to help him eat in a few minutes anyway. He could not one-hand it with a broken finger on the same hand on that note. Neither had refrained from commenting on Annie's gross and unusual appetite, her rate of consumption rivaling the a fore-mentioned trainee. Truth be told Armin wished he didn't have to watch since his shrunken stomach was doing its best to give him a hard time during, but he said nothing of it.

Annie finished and made him a beggar's meal, but it would have to do since he was recovering. Armin acknowledged this humbly because he knew he would throw up real food at this current moment in time and accepted Annie's aid in good graces. With the regrettable act of playing helpless (although it wasn't really playing in question), he slowly ate what he could, letting his mind wander as the minutes ticked by. Only half of the liquid broth was gone before it was refused and Annie went to save the rest. Armin settled against the cavern wall and contemplated a few things while his female companion busied herself with the maintenance of their provisions.

Hours into the night, Armin nodded off once but did not repeat it when he awoke to Annie's touch, her eyes clouded with mixed but undiscernable emotion. The only feeling he was able to pick out of that was annoyance sadly. He shrugged that off and shook his head at her implied question of dressing his injuries again, but he did ask for a spare set of clothes. Annie batted an eye as if mentally indicating she was cursing at herself for forgetting his need for the articles and went to fetch them from their bag. A shirt slightly larger than expected was fitted over him and the brisk night air was immediately thwarted. Armin was warm and tired but still feeling queasy somewhat. He of course did not put voice to this.

As what was sure to be midnight drawing near, Annie finally broke their mute vigil.

"...We're going back out there tomorrow."

Armin opened his eye again and arrested his not-so blurry stare on her.

She continued with no particular inflection, her gaze resting on nothing in particular. "We've been here a couple of days you know. I know we should rest more, but-"

"I understand."

It was her turn to look up at him.

Armin's intense orb shone faintly in the fire's light, his voice surprisingly level. He shifted his shoulder a little as he said, "My weakness will not compromise the objective anymore. Its intolerable in any mission or expedition and consequently ends with the injured being left to die."

Annie blinked as a response.

"This is something we both know," he continued. "And since I'm supposed to be your prisoner, you can do whatever you deem is necessary in this journey of ours. What I don't understand though is why you would put up with my infirmities since they are great enough to affirm that I meet such a fate. Is the destination really worth the effort is what I am asking."

It seemed to be an innocent question that was deserving of an answer, but Annie knew Armin; he was trying to leak information from her again.

"It is," She matter-of-factly put. "But I don't feel obliged to telling you where and what it is."

_Are we always doomed to play this game Annie? It is tiresome and frivolous to employ it even in typical conversation. _

"You are free to tell me what it is or withhold it," he looked at the fire again. "But to be honest, the selection of where is it that we can go is a little slim, don't you think?"

She said nothing to that. She just poked the fire and tried to fan the building plume of smoke out the cave exit.

Armin took that as an indicator to proceed, "I had plenty of time to think while you were gone today. I mean, there isn't really many places we could go is there?"

Annie brushed some of hair out of her face, as if remembering that she needed a hair tie. "What about it?"

"...I'll get to the point; I know you claimed that I am only still here because you wish to dispose of me on your terms in the future, but that seemed a bit out of the way." Annie gave him a cold stare on that but he met her intimidating eyes no less, "The only thing I can see that would be worth the toils in this endeavor is the knowledge I posses regarding the off-chance that I may know where Eren's house is. We're going to Shiganshina aren't we?"

The Female Titan shifter's cold and indifferent aura suddenly turned to boiling rage.

_I knew it. I can still outwit you even just a bit, huh Annie?_

"Get that stupid smirk off your insufferable face or else you'll be tasting hot ash in a second. That's a promise."

Armin didn't even know that he was smiling until she pointed it out. He stopped it and shrank back to his little corner and picked his nails as she went to putting out the fire.

"We'll leave at first light," she had to force herself not to spit. "If I hear you spout any more smart-ass commentary I'll drown you in that river outside."

"Just how are we going to-"

"Good night Arlert."

Her tone put the conversation at permanent rest. The boy knew he had worked at Annie's patience but she was being difficult on purpose when there was no need for it. However, this useless fight will soon be long forgotten in the following hours, their intentions aimed more or less at trying to leave being the fore-most important objective. For now, Armin had to settle for looking out into the thundering ravine outside, keeping at bay both his urge to sleep and the haunting sensation of knowing where is it that Annie was intending to go. He had to find some way of stopping her misuse of the information hidden within Dr. Jaeger's basement or else he would have to die trying.

As bad as it sounds, it seemed that the latter was a far more correct and more likely alternative; given that is if he had any hope in stopping either Annie or the Titans and keeping mankind's hope alive.


End file.
